My Front Porch Looking In The Search for Truth
by AravisK
Summary: "My Front Porch Looking In" explored the life of Petra Skywalker Kenobi, older sister of Anakin and wife of Obi-Wan. In Search, she and Obi-Wan travel to Tattoine to escape the purge and find the parents who abandoned her.
1. Surprising Revelations

"She's what?" Obi-Wan stopped the eopie abruptly. "Tell me you didn't just say that."

"No, that's what I said. She's my sister…or was anyway."

"But, how? You weren't even born on the same planet." Obi-wan said.

"I matched her DNA with mine. It matched nearly perfectly except for the difference in the midi-chlorian count. But I…I never told Anakin about it. He was under the impression that I was his sister by blood." I replied softly.

"But you're not? You're not related to Anakin at all?" He asked.

"No. And for that, I'm thankful. I shouldn't be but I am" I replied. He spurred the eopie on again as I leaned against his back. "How much further?"

"Three or four more miles. Are you tired?" He asked, his voice filled with strain.

"I'm fine. Maybe I should ask the same of you." I said.

He sighed. "Once we give Luke to the Lars we'll go back to the ship." Silence settled between us for the rest of the way. As we approached the homestead, I sat up. Anakin had told me about it…and the grave that my mom was in. Owen was on a small hill near the hovel watching the twin suns; he heard us approaching and turned around. Beru came out to meet us as Obi-Wan got off the eopie and walked to her, withdrawing Luke from his cloak. He quickly explained to her the situation and asked her to keep Luke safe, to which she promised she and Owen would. Obi-Wan handed Luke over to her and she joined Owen on the hillside. Obi-Wan paused and turned back to the eopie. We stayed for another minute before Obi-Wan got back on. We were about to leave when I happened to turn around and I saw a sand storm on the horizon. Two alarms started to sound on the homestead as Owen and Beru turned to see the storm. Owen motioned for us to go inside, so Obi-wan grabbed our stuff off the back of the Eopie and tied it up near the hovel. Beru went inside first, followed by me, Owen and finally Obi-wan. Obi-Wan shut the door and locked it.

The quick movements didn't set well with the tubes and I winced, sucking in a sharp breath. Obi-Wan was instantly by my side helping me to a chair. He rested his hand on my stomach and healed me some, but not completely. The medical droids had said that no amount of Jedi healing or even the latest technology would be able to fully restore me back to my old self. But it did help to ease the pain enough to where I could breathe without hurting.

"Is she all right?" Beru asked with concern. I hadn't ever met her before now but I instantly took a liking to her.

"She'll be fine. It's just….she's a little sore from her injuries." Obi-Wan replied. I hated being talked about in the third person but what can you do?

Beru handed Luke to Owen and went into the kitchen and came back out with a tray of drinks. "I'm sorry I don't have much prepared; we weren't expecting company."

"We weren't expecting to stay. I apologize for the inconvenience." Obi-Wan said blankly.

I noticed that throughout the whole thing, Owen remained deathly quiet. I couldn't tell if it was his nature or if he was just very, very cautious. "Anakin told me a little about his trip to Tattoine two years ago. I wish I could have been here." I said after a minute or two of silence. I made sure I directed my statement to Owen.

"He never mentioned he had a sister. But Shmi had mentioned you once or twice when she was here." Owen said then he handed Luke back to Beru and left. Friendly fellow…I'm being sarcastic, by the way.

"I'm sorry. He's usually not this way with people." Beru said, stammering.

"It's all right, Beru. As soon as this sand storm is over, we'll be on our way." Obi-Wan said.

I suddenly got a strong desire to hold Luke in my arms again. "Beru, may I hold him?"

"Of course." She said with a smile as she handed him to me. I cradled him in my arms. He was awake now and he looked almost exactly like Anakin did when he was born. He looked at me and smiled. I touched his nose but he grabbed my finger and held it. My hand closed around his, as it had done with Anakin not so long ago. It was hard to believe that the brother I had grown up with, the boy I had loved so much, the man that never knew the truth, had turned against me and his beliefs. I sighed. I hoped with all that was in me that Luke would never become a Jedi like his father. Or, at the very least, he wouldn't follow the same path as Anakin did.


	2. Finding a Home

**CHAPTER TWO: FINDING A HOME**

"Storm's letting up" Obi-Wan said a few minutes later. "We should be leaving in a few minutes."

"Obi-wan, do we have to?" I asked.

"Yes we have to. The longer we stay here the more danger we put the Lars in." He replied. I handed Luke back to Beru, who was sitting beside me.

"We'll keep him safe, I promise." She said. I hugged her, trying to believe that they would. "Again, I apologize for Owen's actions. It's just…he's not very approving of Jedi."

Obi-Wan had our luggage but he held my arm as we walked out to the eopie. He secured our things then lifted me up on the eopie. He paused a minute and looked in my eyes. I too was remembering when we first met. He had helped me down from an eopie similar in the way that he helped me back up. I leaned down and kissed him. "We should go" he said and climbed on in front of me. He spurred the eopie and it stood up slowly and started to walk away from the homestead.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The hills. I think there are some places to live up there." He replied. "Far enough away from civilization but yet close enough to where I can keep an eye on Luke."

"But won't Owen hate you for that? He didn't seem like he liked you very much. Or me for that matter." I said, leaning against his back.

"He won't know" was all I heard in response. "Hang on; we're going up some steep hills." I tightened my grip around his waist as the eopie started his upward ascent. When we reached a level and somewhat flat place, Obi-Wan stopped the animal and got off. "Wait here, I'll be back" he said and disappeared beyond the rocks. I heard strange noises in the distance and knew by experience they were wild animals native only to the hills. The eopie shifted uneasily; he probably knew those animals well too.

"Come on, Kenobi" I muttered. The suns were gone, and the moons were out. The temperature started to drop and I pulled my robe tighter around me. I heard something in the rocks. "Obi-wan, is that you?" I whispered. No reply but I heard the rocks moving. I couldn't reach my lightsaber but I remained as still as possible. I soon heard breathing nearby and the Eopie started to back up. I grabbed the reins and held him still as best I could. Almost too soon to realize it, I heard growling, the Eopie reared up *though I didn't know it was possible* and I was thrown off along with all our things. The eopie took off back down the way we came but whatever had scared it was staring straight at me. The only thing I could see clearly was its eyes. I didn't move, afraid that if I did it would attack. I shouldn't have worried though because Obi-Wan was there instantly and killed it. He helped me up. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just a little shaken up, but I'm fine." I answered. I heard the frustration and regret in his voice and knew that he regretted leaving me alone. I winced. I had been jarred more than I realized.

"The hovel is up this way. It's deserted but there are enough supplies there that we can survive a month or so." He wrapped his arm around my waist to support me. As he guided me up the path, he kept looking behind him and over his shoulder to make sure we weren't being followed. I felt him getting tired and I stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just need to rest a minute." I said. He had me and our luggage and I did it more for his sake than mine, even though my stomach felt like it was on fire. He dropped the luggage and leaned against a rock, his face turned towards the stars. "Obi-Wan? Are we safe? From Anakin I mean."

He sighed. "Honestly, Petra, I don't know. This is about as far out of the Republic as I dare to go. Come, we should get moving."

He straightened up and walked toward me, helping me stand. "How much further?" I asked.

"Not far. I promise." He replied. He again picked up our things and we resumed our journey.


	3. Home Sweet Home?

Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the top of a hill. It was somewhat level but well protected by rocks; there was a small, hard mud hovel not far from us. There was a light burning in a window.

"Welcome home" Obi-Wan said softly.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I said bitterly.

"N-no. I'm sorry; I guess I wasn't think…never mind, let's get inside before it gets any later." He said dejectedly. He opened the door with the Force and led me inside. It wasn't too bad…after all I had lived most of my life in a hovel similar. "I know it's not the same but we can make it better. The bedroom and shower are through that door." He pointed to a door not far away. "I'd start a fire or something but there's nothing to start it with."

"There should be a switch…over here." I said, walking over to the wall. I flipped a hidden switch that turned on the heat.

"I didn't know that was over there." He said. I shrugged.

"It was one of the few luxuries my mom and Anakin and I had. We were too important to our masters to freeze to death." I said blankly. He took our things to the bedroom and unpacked. Even if he wasn't raised to be a husband, he had certainly learned to be a great one in the past 12 years. I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else; and as I watched him unpack our things, my love for him grew. The care with which he had taken care of me the past few days; the way he had protected me, not just recently but throughout the years.

"I probably need to clean your wounds." He said. I sat down on the bed and took off my outer tunic; underneath was a tank top which I took off as well. For the first time, I noticed the scars and the tubes containing antibiotics penetrating my stomach. "I should be able to remove the tubes. The droids said when and how to. It may hurt though."

"I can handle it." I replied. He knelt down in front of me and rested his hands on my stomach. With the Force he carefully, slowly, painfully pulled out the tubes, clamping the free part in between his fingers to stop the flow of medicine. I winced and grabbed his arm. He looked up and stopped what he was doing.

"I'm sorry, is it hurting you?" He asked.

"A little." I said. He kept his eyes on mine as he finished pulling them out. He removed the container, which held the antibiotics, from around my waist. He then proceeded to wet some cloths with alcohol; when it made contact with my skin it stung and then became numb. He cleaned the wound and made sure there was no bleeding before wrapping a clean white bandage around my stomach and back.

"Now how does it feel?" He asked me, his hand resting on my shoulder.

"Better, actually; thank you." I said, looking up at him. He bent down and kissed me. "Obi-Wan, did Anakin kill Zett and Luke?"

He sighed and sat down beside me. I pulled on my tank top. "He didn't kill Zett; Zett was killed by troopers on a landing platform. But Luke…Luke was killed by Anakin, yes."

I wanted to cry; needed to grieve, but my tears were spent and I was exhausted. "Why would he do this to us?"

"The Dark Side changes many things about people. I can hardly believe it myself." He said. I leaned against him, the pain in my stomach considerably less than before. His arm wrapped around my shoulders. We sat like that for several minutes before I fell asleep, escaping my troubled thoughts and spirit for a few hours.


	4. The Beginning of a New Life

I awoke to the sound of sizzling, which I knew was coming from the kitchen. I pulled on my robe and walked out of the bedroom. "What time is it?"

"Around 10:30; I was up earlier but I didn't want to wake you." He said, poking at something in a pan.

"You're cooking breakfast? I don't think I can survive another attack" I said sarcastically.

"Very funny, it doesn't look too bad." He said, and then the smell of burnt food filled the air, followed by smoke. "Never mind."

I grabbed a towel and grabbed the pan's handle and took it outside, dumping whatever it was out on the sand. "Open some windows" I said, coughing. He waved his hand and two windows in the kitchen opened. In a few minutes, the air had cleared. "Maybe I should cook."

"Hey, I'm a Jedi, not a chef." He said. He unwrapped a new package of meat, which was similar to bacon and set it on the counter. I placed the pan in the sink and ran cool water over it, then I grabbed a clean pan and restarted breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, we had an edible breakfast; it wasn't lavish or plentiful but it was enough. "I'll clean up" Obi-Wan said after we finished eating. "You look tired" he rested his hand on my arm.

"I'm fine, Kenobi; honestly" I replied. Ever since Obi-wan had removed the tubes my stomach felt better and it wasn't quite so sore. I had thought that perhaps Obi-Wan would have struck up a conversation during breakfast, but what was there to talk about except what had gone wrong in our lives? "You wash, I'll dry."

"Why do I get stuck with the dirty jobs?" He asked.

"Because you're so good at it, Obi-Wan" I replied. I knew he was just kidding though.

"Petra, I can't go by the name of Obi-Wan anymore" he said as he washed the dirty dishes.

"Why?" I asked, really not knowing why.

He sighed. He hadn't slept well the night before. "Because it'd be safer; the Emperor will stop at nothing to destroy those who threaten him."

I let out a breath of frustration. "It's not fair. Anakin had no right to kill our family. He didn't…he didn't…" the tears started to fall afresh down my cheeks. He stopped washing the dishes and pulled me to him. I was so frustrated, and, and hurt. "I'm sorry, Kenobi. I just…it's not your fault."

He didn't say anything for a long time. That's when I felt really guilty. "It's no one's fault" then he fell silent again. Something was wrong with him but I didn't pursue it at the moment.


	5. A Day Alone

The next day, I decided to take a look at the moisture vaporator near our hovel. I took it apart and realized that it needed to have new parts. I made a list for Obi-Wan, I mean Ben, of all the things I needed. "Will you have enough credits?" I asked him.

"I think it'll be enough for now" he replied. "I'll be back by dark. Keep the door locked unless you absolutely have to go out."

"Yes, sir" I said with a slight smile.

"I mean it, Petra." He said sternly. He started to walk out when I remembered something.

"Wait a second. You could use these." I pulled out several credits from a pouch that was lying on the table. I handed them to him. "They're a little rusted, but they're still valuable."

He looked at them in his hand. "Where did you get these?"

"When we left Tattoine, Qui-Gon gave them to me. I want you to use them." I closed his hand over the credits.

"I can't…we should save these for later" Ben said softly. He handed them back to me. He turned to leave but stopped at the door. Next thing I knew, his lips were on mine and my body was crushed against his. "I love you" he breathed.

"I love you too, Kenobi" I said in response. "But if you want to be back before dark, you should go."

He released me. "Don't wait dinner on me." He left, shutting the door behind him and locking it with the Force. I looked around the hovel. Although there wasn't much in it, there was furniture around. And even though I knew cleaning the floor was out of the question since it was dirt, the amount of dirt on the floor was ridiculous. I found a flat piece of metal in the cellar and used it as a shovel, pitching it out the now-unlocked door. Once I removed about three inches of dirt, I then realized how hard the floor underneath was. So I just finished removing most of the dirt. Once that was done, I wiped down all the furniture and the kitchen, getting them as clean as possible. I stopped when there was a catch in my side, making it painful to breathe.

Sitting down on the bed, I picked up a duffle bag. Ben had enough time to go through our quarters and get the essentials that we needed, including a change of clothes each. But I felt something different at the bottom. I pulled out the clothes and discovered a picture frame in the bottom. Activating it, I realized it was a picture of me and Ben with Anakin. It wasn't long after Ben and I had married. I flipped a switch and it switched to the next picture; it was one that was taken during the clone Wars. I knew there were more photos but I didn't feel like looking at them at the moment. I switched off the frame and lay down on the bed. My mind started to wander to my parents. I didn't remember them much; but I remember being scared when I couldn't find them. I also remembered that I had been playing in their ship, even after I had been told not to, and the next thing I knew was that I was on a foreign planet. I sat back up. I didn't know why this had started to bother me at that moment, but I knew that sometime soon, I would have to find my parents.

I opened my eyes and realized that I'd been asleep for several hours because light no longer filtered in through our bedroom window. I heard noises in the main room and got up, yawning. I saw Ben in the kitchen again. I groaned inwardly; he was cooking again. "Ben, we can't afford…"

"I know, I know, but I'm going to learn how to cook this thing." He said in determination. I sighed. I walked into the kitchen.

"It's done." I said, patting him on the shoulder.

He looked at me then at the pan in confusion. "It is? It doesn't look like it."

"Trust me, it is." I took a towel and removed the pan from the stove. I smiled when I saw what it was. It was a delicacy; something my mom and Anakin and I never ate much, but when we did get one, it was a treat.

"I thought about waking you but you looked so beautiful that I couldn't disturb you." He said, touching my hand. I looked at him. He kissed me on the cheek and placed the strip of meat on a plate, slicing it with a knife. He started to put half of it on another plate.

"Don't bother about doing that" I said, placing my hand on his. "We can share a plate."

Not to sound idiotic, but it seemed as though that was what Ben wanted in the first place. We ate dinner in silence for the most part. When we finished, I washed the dishes and he went to our room to meditate as he had been doing for the past few days. He wouldn't tell me why he spent so much time in meditation; and I didn't ask. I looked through the things Ben had bought. I found the parts for the vaporator, but it was too dark and dangerous to try and fix it that night. So I set the things away and restocked the shelves in the kitchen. I turned out the lights in the main room of the hovel and went to the bedroom, being careful not to disturb him. As usual, he was sitting on the bed, shirt off, his legs crossed under him, and his eyes closed in meditation. I took a quick shower and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts even though the nights got cold. Sleeping with someone is warmer than sleeping alone.

"Did you lock everything down?" Ben asked without moving or opening his eyes.

I sat down beside him. "Yes. Did I disturb you?"

He opened his eyes. "No. I couldn't concentrate very well." He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. "Vader is still alive."


	6. Regrets

I had been leaning against him but I sat upright. "He's what?"

"I didn't kill him as Yoda told me to, and now…" He sighed. "I failed again."

"You couldn't have known. The Emperor…" I started in but he stood up abruptly.

"Didn't you hear me? I didn't kill Anakin. I left him to die on the lava banks of Mustafar, hoping he'd die. I turned my back on him and left him to a slow and painful death, and now the Emperor has resurrected him into a masked monster." Ben fell silent; he was breathing heavily, mainly out of anger. I always thought that Ben had killed Anakin; and as bad as it sounds, I had hoped he had killed him. Ben had turned his back on me, but I knew he was crying. I got up and went over to him, leaning against his back and wrapping my arms around his waist. I felt his body heaving with sobs and I didn't know what to do to help him except just let him cry. There was only one other time I remember him grieving so deeply and openly; when Siri died. My chest was against his back and we stood like this for several minutes, but eventually, I felt him calming down but also tiring. I moved away and took his hands. "Both of us need some rest."

"I should resume my meditation" Ben said, wiping the tears away.

I wiped some remaining tears off his cheek. "You should go to bed and go to sleep. Meditation will be there in the morning."

"Fine, I suppose I can't argue with you and win." He said sitting down.

I smiled. "No, you can't, so don't forget it."

He waved his hand, shutting off the lights. A few minutes later, I was lying against him with my head resting against his chest, his arms around me and his steady breathing filling my ears. I wish I could have gone to sleep as quickly and easily. But I didn't move for fear of disturbing his much needed rest.

When I woke up the next morning Ben was gone as usual, but he left a note on his pillow. _Dearest, I've gone riding up to the Wastes; I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll be back before dark if all goes well. I've already fixed the vaporator, so no need to go outside the hovel today. I love you. _

I sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Several days before, Ben had caught a Bantha and tamed it so he could ride it. I also knew that Owen had gotten angry with Ben for keeping watch over their homestead and had ordered Ben away, even though I knew Ben still kept watch, just at a greater distance. I got up reluctantly and got dressed. I picked up where I had left off the day before and finished cleaning the hovel. When I finished, I sat down with a book I had been reading prior to all this, a gift from Malee. In it, I realized that I had marked where I left off with a couple of pieces of paper. Pulling them out, I remembered what they were: Siri's file and my file. So, I set the book aside and read through the files again, looking for clues, but to what I didn't know yet. There was, of course, no record of who Siri's parents were….rather, our parents. But Serenno was her place of birth, and I knew that if I was going to find my parents, that's where I had to look. The only problem was; how were we going to get there safely? I knew Ben wouldn't go for the idea easily; I'd have to convince him, and I'd already tried that once.

"_Petra, what is that?" Obi-Wan asked, walking over to me._

_I handed him the sheet of paper. "A letter from my mother; I'm not sure how it found its way here."_

_There was a moments silence as Obi-Wan read the letter. "At least she's doing well."_

_I sighed. "Obi-Wan, I should go visit her."_

_He handed the letter back to me. "Absolutely not."_

"_Why?" I asked. I really did want to visit her and take Anakin with me._

"_It's too risky." He simply replied._

"_Too risky? I could take a transport and be back in a week or so" I said crossing my arms and standing up._

"_Petra, you heard what I said; you aren't to go to Tattoine. Understood?" His eyes bore into mine, and I knew that was the end of the discussion._

"_Yes Master" I replied sullenly. _

I smiled bitterly at the memory; I knew then that the end of that conversation was the firm tone of voice and the hard gaze he gave me. But if Ben told me 'no' this time, I was going whether he liked it or not, even if I had to sneak out at night. I decided to approach him when he got home.

But I didn't follow through because Ben had come home looking troubled. When I asked him why, he said that Qui-gon had spoken to him at an abandoned Tusken Raider camp. "Why a Tusken Raider camp?"

"Petra, it's none of your concern" Ben replied gruffly and he walked away into the bedroom. Well, he was in a lovely mood today. But I decided to dismiss his attitude because of recent events. Sighing out loud, I returned to my book, this time actually reading it. But I kept the documents tucked away in one of my drawers in the bedroom.


	7. A Visit from an Old Friend

"He didn't tell you, did he?" I heard a familiar voice say. I jumped up from where I was sitting, looking around.

"Ben that's not funny." I said. But the chuckle that followed wasn't Ben's.

"I apologize, Petra, I didn't mean to startle you." Qui-Gon's shimmering form appeared. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if this was a result of my lack of sleep. He chuckled again. "Your eyes are not deceiving you. I'm appearing through the Force."

"But…Ben told me that for me to see you I had to learn how." I replied, stuttering.

"Well, I decided to forego the rules for once. I wanted to tell you that Ben stumbled upon the Raider camp where your mother died. He didn't know about the slaughter Anakin had committed." Qui-Gon said. "I know you didn't either."

"After Anakin and Padme got married, it seemed like we drifted apart" I replied. "He never spoke to me about anything, not even to complain about something Ben was doing."

"Perhaps he was afraid you would reveal his secret marriage to the Jedi or to Ben." He said.

I sighed. "I didn't even know she was pregnant. Qui-Gon, will Anakin turn back?"

Qui-Gon shifted his form to sit beside me. "I cannot tell you one way or the other. Anakin is submerged beneath Darth Vader. He is still the Chosen One; whether or not he will fulfill what's expected of the Chosen One is hard to tell. "And with that, the ghost form of former Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn disappeared into the shadows of the semi-dark living room. I shut the book and got up, making my way into the bedroom. Ben looked up at me but didn't say anything. But then again, he really didn't have to because I already knew why he was upset, so I left him alone.

Several minutes later, he turned out the light and laid down in bed beside me, his back to me. I decided to speak up then. "Qui-gon appeared to me." No response. "He, uh, told me what happened today…about the abandoned camp and Mom." Still nothing. I sighed in the darkness. I rolled over on my side, our backs facing each other; usually Ben always said something, even if it was not much. I didn't like getting nothing but silence from him. I suppose this was another effect of Anakin's betrayal. In just a few short minutes, though, I felt sleepy and started to fall asleep.

"I know" I heard Ben say in the darkness. "I felt his presence." He rolled over on his side and I felt his fingers run down my back then around my waist, and then I felt him place a kiss on my bare shoulder, his full but soft beard rubbing gently against my cool skin. "I'm sorry. I feel betrayed by Anakin in more ways than one."

I rolled onto my back to face him. "I understand, Ben. You don't have to apologize."

"I sense there's something you want to ask me. What is it?" His head was lying on the pillow almost against mine and his fingers were stroking the silky material of my nightgown. Worn and faded, it had somehow retained its silkiness through the years.

I took a breath. "I don't know if…"

"No, ask me. You might as well." He kissed my neck.

"Fine; I want to try and find my real parents." I said hesitantly.

His fingers stilled and out of the corner of my eye I saw his head lift from the pillow. "You what?"

"You heard me; I want to find my real parents if I can." I looked at him. There was no expression on his face that I could read. He pulled away and lay down on his back. "Ben?"

"I'll think about it" was the only reply. By the tone of voice, I knew the discussion was over…at least from his point of view.


	8. Another Request and Defiance

Five months slowly passed. My impatience to set out after my parents was nearly eating me alive, but I waited. I waited until I felt that I could ask him again. As we sat down to dinner, I noted his face; even with his beard, I could see the wrinkles that had formed in the corners of his mouth. Not laugh lines, but wrinkles that were the result of a lifetime of hardship and sorrow, and especially recently, with a best friend's betrayal. I looked at myself every so often in the mirror and was not shocked at how much I seemed to have aged. My once very-blonde hair was graying and bags appeared under my once-deep blue eyes; now they seemed almost to have faded to a light, pale blue; if eyes can fade colors, that is. Reaching over, I clasped his hand in mine and he looked up at me. He smiled a weary smile; I knew that he still kept his vigil over the Lars' homestead and over Luke.

"Ben, I've been thinking about my parents…"

But I got no further when he interrupted me. "We discussed this before."

"You discussed it. You gave me an answer without thinking it through." I replied, determined not to get angry.

He stood up. "And I don't intend to give it any further thought. We can't afford to go traipsing all over the universe in search of parents who obviously don't care about what happened to you. We're staying, and we are not discussing this again." He shoved his chair back under the table and went to the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Well, like it or not, I was going; with or without him, and I knew I'd have to leave that night.

Knowing that he would head out again before it got dark, I decided to take that opportunity and pack. I only packed what I knew I would need and then shoved the bag underneath a chair in the living room. I felt terribly guilty about it but what else was I to do? I wanted to find my parents; Ben just didn't understand. He knew his background, where he came from and his parents. I realized I didn't put my lightsaber in with my things so I went over to the table where my lightsaber was lying and put it in the bag. I stood up right as Ben walked in. "How was your walk?"

"Not good; Owen knows I'm watching them" he replied as he sat down. "I will have to find some other way to monitor Luke."

"Maybe you should just let them raise him as they see fit. Owen doesn't hold too high of an opinion for either of us, you know" I said giving him a glass of water.

"I made a promise to Padme as she was dying that I would watch after her children. I can't do that with Leia but I will do it with Luke. Nothing Owen does will deter me from that." He drank down the glass of water and handed it back to me. "I'm going to bed early tonight. Want to join me?"

"Not tonight." Part of me wanted to join him in the hopes that we would sleep together, since we hadn't been together like that since he first returned home from the Outer Rim sieges. But I knew that I needed to make sure I had everything I needed for my trip and I didn't want to sleep with him then up and leave. He kissed me on the cheek then went into the bedroom. If he was really as tired as I thought he was, he'd be asleep in a few minutes. Then, I would make my way into Mos Eisley and find a way to get off this blasted planet.


	9. Making My Escape

It was a long way to Mos Eisley on foot. I didn't realize how far until I was at the bottom of the hill we lived on. Making sure my lightsaber was secure on my belt, I adjusted the bag that was slung over my shoulder and started forward. Since the suns had gone down the temperature was much cooler, and the sand had lost most of its heat. I heard howling in the distance, but as far as I could tell, they weren't anywhere near me. Tusken Raiders laid low at night so I knew that I wouldn't be bothered…except perhaps by whatever had attacked me that first night on Tattoine. As I walked along the quiet path, I began to think about my mother. I couldn't see the homestead from where I was right now. I knew it lay roughly to my right, but there was no sense in going that direction. Anakin had told me that Mom was buried at the homestead; and I had never seen her grave. My thoughts then turned to Ben…and the time we first met.

"_Petra Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."_

_I moved from behind Qui-gon so that Obi-Wan could see me. My blue eyes locked with his blue-grey ones. After a few awkward, silent seconds, Qui-Gon's voice spurred us both back to reality._

"_I need to be going back." He said, noticing the gaze between us._

_Obi-Wan moved closer to the Eopie as I held Qui-Gon's arm. As I started to get down, I felt strong hands wrap around my waist and guide me to the ground. When I released Qui-gon's arm, I turned slightly and looked into Obi-Wan's eyes. This time, though, I broke the gaze and stepped out of his arms. Qui-gon turned the Eopies and headed back to Mos Eisley. There was a minute or two of awkward silence between us before Obi-Wan broke the silence._

"_So…um, the ship is this way." He walked towards it._

"_No kidding" I said under my breath. He turned and looked at me, almost as if he had heard what I said, then continued on into the ship. He led me into the engine room. As I walked past him, our shoulders touched but I ignored it. I started working on the damaged hyperdrive, trying to rid my mind of him. As if sensing what I needed, he handed me a tool to help pry the damaged parts out. The trouble was, the part wasn't releasing. I tugged and pulled at it; he moved behind me and extended his arms around me to try to help. I pushed him back._

"_I can do it."_

_He looked at me puzzled. "Sorry, I was only trying to help."_

_By the look on his face, I knew he had his feelings hurt at least a little but he wiped it off his face. I continued pulling and tugging at the part. I thought I had it but it gave way when I was pulling it hard, and I fell backwards into Obi-Wan, landing on top of him. Our faces were inches apart. I didn't realize just how clear his eyes were until I saw them really closely. His face started moving closer towards mine and his arms wrapped around my waist; our lips barely touched but I pulled away, pushing him down. I got up; breathing heavily, heart racing looking down at him. _

"_What's wrong?" He asked me._

"_We don't know each other." I said, shocked._ _I turned around and returned to extracting the damaged parts. Once that was done, I grabbed the new parts and started to install them._

_Obi-Wan was sitting behind me against the bulkhead, arms crossed, legs stretched out in front of him. "How old are you?"_

_His voice distracted me. "Seventeen."_

"_Really?" I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was a little taken aback. "You seemed older than that."_

_I turned back around. "Thanks." I said it under my breath. "And just how old are you, Jedi?"_

"_Twenty-five; I'll be twenty-six in several weeks." He said smiling slightly._

"_Congratulations" I responded half-heartedly. "There, I got it all done now."_

_He motioned for me to join him against the bulkhead but I stayed standing where I was. _

"_Do you always treat strangers this way or is it just Jedi?" He said with a smirk._

"_I'm sorry; I've just been a little…testy lately." _

_He still kept that blasted smirk on his face. "Some Jedi have been known to do that."_

"_Wipe that smirk off your face, Kenobi."_

I smiled at the memory. Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have married him. But hindsight is always 20\20, isn't it? I looked up and could see the lights of Mos Eisley. My back was hurting, my neck was aching, but I kept on going. No sense in turning around when I'm this close to my goal.

Two hours later, I finally reached the spaceport. It had a night life of its own, though it wasn't as busy at night as it is during the day. I stood still in the street, wondering which way I should go. Watto's shop was now closed. The Hutts wouldn't help me; they'd only capture me and enslave me again. I decided to try one of the local cantinas. I pulled my robe around me, hiding the lightsaber on my hip; I may be desperate, but I'm not stupid. As I got closer to the cantina I could hear the ruckus and the music inside. I hesitated for a minute in the doorway; this wasn't the kind of place I should be in at this time of night. I shook off my fear and walked inside. The only reason I was in here was because I knew that the cantinas, especially this one, was a rest stop for many pilots and freighters. As soon as I was seen by the patrons, whistles filled the air. _Pigs_, I thought. I walked up to the bar, ignoring the stares and looks I was getting from the men.

"What can I get ya honey?" the bartender asked.

"Do you know where I might find a pilot for hire?" I leaned against the counter.

He thought a moment. "Well now, I'm sure I can fix ya up with a pilot. Where are ya headed?"

"Serenno" I replied.

"Serenno, huh? What's your business?" He asked, leaning forward.

"I don't believe that's any of your concern." I bit back.

He straightened. "A little spitfire, eh? Well, I'll ask around and see if I can find ya a pilot. Just wait outside little missy."

I rolled my eyes and walked out. I needed the fresh air anyway; the smoke inside the cantina was stifling and suffocating. I sat down on a nearby piece of junk that was half-buried in the sand. Several drunks wandered out of the cantina, but most of them didn't pay any attention to me. A couple of men who were more sober wandered over to me; I couldn't use the Force to hide me, Ben had warned me never to use it if I could keep from it. He also told me not to use my lightsaber, so I acted like I didn't see the men walking towards me. They circled me with looks in their eyes that I didn't like. "Looks like she's all alone with nobody for company" one of them said.

The other laughed. "We can change that."

"I would suggest that both of you leave; otherwise you'll regret it" I said, never looking at either of them.

"Oh ho, big talk coming from a little woman" the first one said. I rolled my eyes; was there still no decency on Tattoine? One of them touched my shoulder, but I kept still. "Maybe we should show her how to have a good time."

The second one, the man who was taller and certainly much stronger than me, shoved me to the ground. (Keep in mind, all this happened rather quickly from this point on.) He was the one who straddled me and pinned me to the ground. There was some sharp metal buried in the sand that was now digging into my back. "Hey, who says you go first?" the smaller one said.

"I spotted her first" the taller one said. "So, that means I go first."

I knew struggling against him would be futile; he had a good foot and a half on me and I had never been all that strong in hand-to-hand combat. So I did the next best thing: screamed. It didn't last long because he clamped his hand over my mouth. "None of that; cooperate and you won't be hurt" the larger one said.

But before he could get any further, he was pulled off me roughly. The smaller man had been sitting where I had been, but before he could make it to his feet, he fell back on the ground dead. The other man ran away into an alley and I saw my rescuer. I expected it to be Ben, but it wasn't; it was Owen! He and Ben were standing there with long rifles that released blaster bolts. But Owen was the one who had fired both times, because the barrel was smoking a little. Ben immediately dropped the gun and knelt beside me. "Are you all right?"

I nodded but I then felt a sharp pain in my back. He picked me up but realized I was bleeding. "We'll take her back to the homestead" Owen said, picking up the discarded gun and my bag. Ben healed the wound a little, but not enough to completely stop the bleeding so he gathered up the bottom of my robe and held it against the wound as he carried me to a land speeder. As he lifted me up to put me in the speeder, I realized just how tired I was, and not just from the trip to Mos Eisley, but from the attempted rape. Ben climbed in beside me, keeping a hold on my back, and I leaned against him, feeling sorry for what I had done and feeling thankful that he and Owen had come to my rescue. There was nothing said as Owen started up the speeder and we headed to the homestead. I tried to fight the sleep that was taking me over, but soon gave up the fight and drifted off to sleep.


	10. A Night at the Homestead

"What happened?" I heard Beru ask as Ben took me into the homestead.

"Two men tried to rape her and injured her in the process" I heard Owen reply.

I heard a door opening. "Bring her in here and lay her down on the bed; I'll go get some bandages" Beru said.

Ben started to lay me down on my side, then he rolled me over onto my stomach. He took off my robe, which was now bloody, then he ripped away part of my tunic so they could get to the wound. "Both of you can wait in the kitchen" Beru said as she came back into the room with her arms full.

"I'm staying with her" Ben replied.

"Nothing will happen to her, Obi-Wan. Trust me." I could almost hear Beru smile at him in reassurance. Ben bent down and kissed me on the cheek and walked out with Owen. Beru sat down on the bed beside me and opened a bottle of antiseptic. "This may sting a little."

"It's okay" I said. She poured some of the antiseptic on the wound. 'Sting a little' was an understatement; it burned a lot, but then it numbed. She took one of the cloths and cleaned off the blood. Beru said nothing as she pulled out part of the metal. I didn't feel it thankfully; she finished cleaning the wound then dressed it.

I heard a baby's cry and Beru got up. She returned with Luke and I turned my head to look at them. She looked at home holding him with a bottle in his mouth. "Owen wouldn't want me talking to you anymore than I have to, but…it gets lonely without another woman to talk to" Beru said sadly.

"I know how you feel. Sometimes I feel like a caged animal" I replied.

"Beru, are you done yet?" Owen yelled through the door.

She looked at me regretfully. "Yes, I'm done. Obi-Wan can come back in."

The door opened and Ben was the first one to enter. "Was it bad?"

"Oh, I've seen worse; certainly not as bad as her other injury…several months ago" Beru said. "She…"

"Beru, come on; they're leaving early in the morning" Owen said curtly. Beru hung her head and left the room. Owen started to shut the door.

"Owen?" I asked.

He stopped. "What?"

"Thank you" I smiled at him. He smiled back at first, but I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "Owen, I realize that what Anakin did several years ago has hardened you and made you bitter towards the Jedi, and I know that us being here is dangerous to you and Beru, but I ask; would Shmi want you to harbor those feelings in your heart? I knew my mother well; she was the kind of person who would forgive and encourage others to forgive. She was also someone who was kind and caring; something I imagine your father loved and appreciated about her. Owen, I don't harbor any hard feelings towards you for how you feel towards us. It's understandable, and if I were you, I'd probably feel the same way. I know that you don't like it that Ben keeps watch over your homestead. He does it for Luke."

"If he's doing it for Luke, then he should leave us alone" Owen spat. He nearly closed the door, but I waved my hand and held it open and, despite the pain in my back, sat up to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Just hold it, Owen Lars. It's not that he doubts your ability to take care of him" I began, but yet again, he interrupted me.

"I know why he's doing it. He's doing it so he can train Luke to be a Jedi." Owen said. There was sadness in his voice.

"Ben, could you leave us alone a few minutes?" I asked him, turning my head to look at him. He nodded silently and walked out, shutting the door behind him as Owen stood just inside the room. "Owen, sit down beside me." I patted a spot on the bed. He had his arms crossed as he walked over to me and sat down. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Beru's too afraid to say what she really thinks; but I feel like she thinks a lot like me and she's worried about you. You can tell me what's bothering you, you know; after we leave in the morning you won't have anyone else to talk to."

He didn't say anything. It seemed like he could be as stubborn as…well as an eopie. But what he did next surprised me. He rested his head on my shoulder as tears slid down his cheeks. Soon, those tears turned into sobs. I know he and Beru had had a rough time of it; in fact, a few weeks ago, Imperial Troopers had searched Tattoine for Ben and I; and they had interrogated Owen and Beru. It must have been extremely unnerving for both of them, especially with 6 month old Luke staying here. I wrapped my other arm around him so that he was completely encircled by my arms. After a few minutes of sitting like this, he pulled away. "I know you mean no harm, and I know Ben means no harm in watching Luke. I just don't want Luke to be trained as a Jedi; after seeing what it did to his father…"

"Owen, Anakin had problems. He held onto the things around him too much; the death of Mom was hard on him, as it should be on anyone. But he didn't deal with it in the right way. I didn't even know about the slaughter until a few months ago; nor did Ben. We tried to teach Anakin what was right but he refused to listen" I said, and then with a sigh, I added: "I will talk to Ben about his watching over Luke."

"Thank you" was Owen's only reply. He started to leave again.

"Before we leave…I want to see my mother's grave" My request made him turn around again. He nodded then walked out as Ben walked back inside. Beru stood outside the door with Luke in her arms.

"The door on the wall leads to a bathroom if you want to take a shower" Beru said. "You're free to join us for breakfast in the morning, but if not we'll understand." She smiled then shut the door.

"Petra just what did you think you were doing?" Ben said as soon as the door clicked. There wasn't anger in his voice or face, though, which kind of surprised me. "Did you realize how much danger you were in?"

"Ben, I'm sorry. But you wouldn't listen to me" I replied. He walked over to me and kissed me hard on the lips, cupping my face with his hands. He then sank down on the bed beside me, pulling me to him. I realized that I had caused him concern and worry, and he had every right to feel those emotions. (He had been too worried about me to be angry at me, though there was a tint of annoyance in his tone.) I pulled away from him and lay down on my side, the throbbing in my back becoming noticeable and somewhat painful. Ben went to the bathroom and took a shower, returning in only his pants.

"There was a reason you turned down my offer for passion earlier, wasn't it?" He asked as he got into bed next to me.

"Ben, there was no reason for me to sleep with you then leave; besides, if I had you wouldn't have fallen asleep very quickly and I couldn't have left…and as I look back on it, it was a stupid and foolish decision to try and leave" I said, reaching out to touch his arm. He was lying on his back and I moved closer to him.

"As soon as you're healed we'll go" Ben said as he drew me close.

"It might be a while before I can climb those hills without much help" I replied.

"I'm not talking about going home" He said flatly.

I looked up at him. "You're not? What are you talking about, then?"

"We'll go to Serenno somehow. Owen probably knows where we can find a ship" Ben said.

"Ben, thank you" I said and kissed him on the cheek.

"We should sleep, especially you" he said quietly. He flicked his hand and turned off the lights. I had to adjust my position in order for my back to stop hurting, but Ben's arm was wrapped around my waist and his body was close against mine, and his forehead rested in between my shoulder blades; because of that, we were asleep within a few minutes.


	11. The Next Morning

I awoke to the smell of something cooking. At first, I thought I was back home. But then I realized that I was at the Lars' homestead. Ben was gone from the bed and I heard activity outside the door. There was a knock. "I'm awake" I said. The door opened and Beru entered carrying a tray.

"Owen and Obi-Wan are on the search for a ship; but I thought you might be hungry" she said as she set the tray down on the bed. I sat up as she started to leave.

"Beru don't go" I called to her. She turned around.

"Owen doesn't…" she began.

"Oh pooh on what Owen does or doesn't want. He's not here, so you should be free to talk" I said as I stacked the pillows behind me and settled the tray on my lap.

She let out a breath of relief. She left the room but soon returned with Luke in her arms. I took a bite of what was on the plate and sighed. It was just like the breakfast my mom used to cook. "Your mother taught me how to make that. I wasn't much of a cook and she taught me how to cook" Beru said softly.

"She taught me as well; even though we had very little, she always made it taste as good as possible" I responded. After I had eaten about half of what was there, I stopped. "Are you and Owen planning on having any children?"

Beru looked down at Luke. "Not necessarily. I want to, but Owen…he doesn't want children for a while. He says that Luke is enough."

"Has Owen always been this controlling?" I asked.

She looked at me and laughed. "Controlling, maybe. But he has always been good to me. And he loved Shmi from the first minute she came here. I know because I was living with Owen and Cliegg at the time. My parents died several years ago and my father was good friends with Cliegg, so naturally my father asked Cliegg to watch out for me if anything happened."

"Was my mother happy here?" I asked, setting aside the tray.

"Oh, yes; she was very happy. But often, I'd see the distance in her eyes; she was never fully happy. She talked about you and, and Anakin often. She got a letter from you once; said that she read it over and over until the writing faded and the paper crumbled, but she knew every line by heart. She even wrote it down somewhere, but there is no telling what's happened to it. However, she did own something that she wanted you to have if you were to ever come back."

"What is it?" I asked, now curious.

She stood up. "Will you hold him for me while I get it?"

I took Luke into my arms. "Sure." Beru left the room and returned within ten minutes with a box in her hands. I recognized it instantly, but it was scratched and beaten up.

"She tried to keep it protected, but time isn't always kind to things like this" Beru said as she set the box down and took Luke out of my arms. "I'll leave you alone; it is something private between you and your mother." She smiled at me then left the room, shutting the door gently behind her. I picked up the box and opened it. Inside were several items: a folded piece of paper, a necklace Anakin and I had made for her years ago, and a bag. I reached in and opened the drawstring bag; there were several credits inside. They were old; Anakin told me after we got to Coruscant that he and Qui-Gon had sold the pod racer and given the money to Mom. I fingered the credits and sighed, then reached for the paper. I set aside the bag and unfolded the piece of paper. It wasn't' my handwriting, but I recognized the words:

_Dear Mom,  
I've tried several times to reach you, but I haven't been able to. I hope this letter finds you somehow. By now you've guessed that I'm alright and still alive, and Anakin is alright as well. He's growing up so fast, and it won't be long before he'll be grown-up. These last three years have been somewhat difficult for me, but I've had a wonderful source of support: my husband. Yes, mom, I've married. I married not long after we left Tattoine. Qui-Gon's apprentice is the one whom I'm married to. Do you remember Qui-Gon? I'm sure you do. Sadly, I have to say he's not with us anymore as he was killed on Naboo not long after we took the Queen back home. I'm sure you're puzzled and intrigued, but I can't go into detail at the moment. IF you're wondering if Obi-Wan (he's my husband) and I have had or are planning to have children, don't' wonder any longer. We've had two sons, Zett and Luke, but Obi-Wan felt it would be best to give them to the Order when they were infants. I see them every so often, but it hurts not to be able to acknowledge them as my sons. It's such a wonderful feeling knowing I'm loved and cared for. Obi-Wan is a Jedi which means our marriage is secret, but being alone with him at night is rewarding. I'm also a Jedi healer in training, and that keeps me busy constantly, but it's fun at times as well. Right now though, he's away on a mission with Anakin and they won't return for another two weeks. I've not approached him about coming back to Tattoine to free you, because I fear he'd refuse me. Don't' get me wrong; he'll do anything I ask of him, but he fears going out in public with me. It's not that he's ashamed…Jedi are forbidden to love and marry, and he is following his order's mandate. I admire and respect him for that. Mom, once he returns from the mission, I'll approach him about coming to Tattoine and freeing you. I want you to share our life and happiness. Nothing would make me happier than to have you living with us. Anakin would be more than thrilled at having his mother back home. And Obi-Wan would love to meet you; I think you'd love him at first glance. Needless to say, I'm still homesick…not for Tattoine, but for you. My heart ached something awful those few months after we left. I felt so inadequate to take care of Ani the way you had. It still aches whenever I think of you. I'd love to tell you more about Obi-Wan and our lives but Malee (my Jedi teacher) is calling for me to finish my work and get off my break. I love you mom. I hope with everything that's in me that you're safe and that this letter reaches you soon.  
Your Loving Daughter,  
Petra Skywalker Kenobi_

I sighed and let the letter rest in my lap. I remembered clearly writing that letter, hoping that it would reach Tattoine. Apparently, Mom got it before she left Watto's service. When Ben and Anakin returned from that mission, I approached Ben about going to Tattoine. He told me no immediately. There was too much unrest in the galaxy for me to go back, and he couldn't go with me. We argued and argued about it but in the end, he won. I suppose that at that time, I hadn't cared to go against his wishes, so I hadn't tried to leave.

"_Obi-Wan, can I talk to you?" I had asked as Obi-Wan came home for dinner with Anakin behind him._

"_Sure, sweetie; what is it?" he said as he kissed me on the cheek. _

"_Anakin, go wash up for dinner; it'll be ready in a few minutes" I said to Anakin. He made a face at me, but I gave him one right back and he scooted off to wash his hands. Obi-Wan washed his hands in the kitchen and dried them on a towel. _

"_What is it you wanted to ask me?" _

"_Well, I've been thinking about Mom a lot. And I know Anakin would want to see her; do you think it'd be possible if we went to see her and possibly bring her home?" I asked tentatively. _

"_You're not going back to that rock, and you're not taking Anakin with you" Obi-Wan said as he sat down. _

_I looked at him in disbelief. "But, you haven't even considered…"_

"_There is nothing to consider; none of us are going" he said firmly. _

And that had been the end of it. Of course, as soon as Ben had gone to bed, I cried. I don't know why I had let him walk all over me, but I should have stood up to him. I usually wasn't so soft towards things I really wanted and had my heart set on. Ben had good reasons to refuse me; he was cautious, but sometimes he was _too_ cautious. Now, as I folded the letter back up and set it in the box, I regretted not pursuing the matter further. Would things have been different had I insisted on coming back and setting Mom free? I believe they would have been. Perhaps Anakin would have stayed a Jedi, and we wouldn't be in this mess. Perhaps Ben and I wouldn't be in hiding, fearful of anyone asking questions of us and fearful of going out in public. I turned my attention to the necklace. I traced the designs on it with my finger and sighed. Anakin and I had worked together to make it for Mom's birthday, when I was 15 and he was 7. It was a japor snippet, but a different kind of design and shape than the one Anakin had given Padme. Mom's was more of a circle and had more intricate carvings on it. She was so appreciative when we had given her the necklace, something we had spent every spare minute on.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, I was being wakened by Ben. "Owen was able to get us a ride to Serenno; we leave within the hour."

I shook my head, trying to clear it, but Ben thought I was saying no. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to go to Serenno" he said.

"I do, I was just clearing the cobwebs out of my head" I replied, looking around for the breakfast tray.

"Beru already took your tray. She said you fell asleep not long after you ate" Ben said, sitting down beside me. His hand covered mine, and I realized I was still holding onto the snippet. I handed it to him. "Did you make this?"

"Anakin and I did for Mom several years ago. Beru gave me this box with some of Mom's things in it" I said, picking up the box and putting the letter and necklace back into it. "When we get back, we're coming here so I can take this box back home with us."

"Was this your mom's?" he asked, running his fingers over the top. I nodded. "I'm sure Owen and Beru wouldn't mind keeping it for us until we get back."

"Beru won't, but Owen might" I said bitterly.

"I'll help you shower, then we should leave" Ben said without acknowledging my comment. He grabbed my arm and helped me off the bed and then proceeded to help me take a shower; I dried off but didn't dress because Ben wanted to check my back and re-bandage it. So, he pulled off the wet bandages and cleaned the wound again. "It looks better than last night. Does it hurt?"

"It's sore; but it doesn't hurt too badly" I replied. He applied antibiotic ointment and re-bandaged it, tightly but not painfully. I dressed as he made the bed and picked up our things.

"I hope you know where to go once we get to Serenno" he said.

"Siri's file didn't say. I suppose we'll just wing it" I replied. He looked up at me with a you're-kidding-me-look, but he didn't say anything. "I'm sure someone on Serenno knows my parents."

"I'm sure" he said softly. "You ready?"

I nodded and walked towards the door. "Owen said that he would take us to the spaceport. He was a little less icy to me when we went into Mos Eisley" Ben said, looking at me. "Would that have anything to do with what you two talked about last night?"

I shrugged. "I can't say. We talked, but somehow, I doubt what I said made much difference."

"Well, what was it that you said?" he persisted.

I laughed. "Ben Kenobi, I don't believe I have to tell you that. Besides, it was a private conversation."

He eyed me for a minute, and then shrugged. I went over to him and cupped his face in my hands. "We don't have to go if you don't' want to."

Ben set my suitcase down and removed my hands from his face, holding them in his. "I've treaded on what you've wanted for long enough. Even though this could be dangerous, I'm willing if it means that much to you to find your parents."

I leaned in and kissed him on the lips. "Thank you, Ben. You don't know how much this means to me."

He shrugged again and pulled away, picking up my suitcase once more. As I watched him leave the room, I was reminded just how much I love him, and how much I owed my life to the man I have been married to for nearly 15 years.

"_I have a bad feeling about this" Siri said as Obi-Wan landed the ship. _

"_I'm going in alone. More than likely Asajj is just after me." He replied as he stood up._

"_Master, going in there alone would be suicide. Besides, the council sent us with you." Anakin said firmly._

_Obi-Wan shook his head. "I need to do this alone." He walked to the ramp of the ship, but Siri stopped him. _

"_Listen, I know you want to save her yourself but you'll need backup" she touched his arm._

"_Siri, this could be an ambush; if I go in alone, and don't come back out, then you'll know to get more help. But this is something I should do myself." He replied, shaking his head. _

_She kissed him on the lips quickly. "You'd better bring her and you out safely in one piece. If you're not out of there within three hours we'll get help."_

"_Finally, I have both Kenobi's in my care. This should be interesting" Asajj said evilly._

_My eyes snapped open suddenly, traveling to the figure chained beside me, whose face was covered with the black mask. He turned his head to look at me but didn't get very far. I figured the mask and the way he was chained inhibited his movements. Asajj left the room for a few minutes. "Some rescue this turned out to be, Kenobi" I said jokingly. _

"_You don't have to rub it in Skywalker." He replied with no trace of humor. "How are you?"_

"_I've been better." I said, not wanting to make him feel worse. Really, I was horrible: the wounds from the arena battle were infected and sore, the torture scars were painful each time I moved, and I was pretty sure I had a few cracked or broken ribs. Asajj returned before we could continue our conversation. _

_She tapped a few buttons on the torture control panel and I could tell she raised she amount of voltage. Each time she had tortured me, I kept back the cries that threatened to escape but now, the pain was too great NOT to cry out. Over my own screams, I heard Obi-Wan's voice. "Let her go!" He struggled to free himself from the chains but he was prohibited from using the Force. _

"_Your wife and I have had a lovely time; it'd be a shame to let her go so soon." Asajj smiled smugly. She pressed the button again. Obi-Wan's anger was nearly at the boiling point._

"_Your deal is with me, not with her, so let her go." Obi-Wan said angrily. _

_Asajj stepped over to me and slapped me on the cheek. "Your wife is very strong; she's survived several days of this. I wonder if you are as strong."_

"_So help me Asajj, if I ever get out of these chains…" Obi-Wan began._

"_Or what? You'll kill me? Ooh, I'm shaking." Asajj said sarcastically._

_A battle droid entered the chamber. "We detected a transmission from the Jedi ship to Coruscant; they're sending reinforcements."_

"_Typical of the Jedi: sending backup." Asajj shook her head._

"_You can do whatever you want with me, just please let her go." Obi-wan said, pleadingly._

"_Somehow I doubt that." Asajj replied. _

"_Obi-Wan, I'm not worth your life." I said, not wanting to leave Kenobi in her hands. _

"_Well, now that I think about it, I really only wanted Obi-Wan. Now that I have him, you are no longer needed." Asajj said, looking at me. She waved her hand and my chains released, dropping me to the floor. I winced and sucked in a breath. She nodded to the battle droids. "Take her outside and leave her there. The other two will come after her."_

"Petra, are you coming?" Ben asked as he turned around.

I shook my head, distracted from my thoughts. "Uh, yeah, I'm coming."

We left the bedroom and met Beru and Owen outside of the hovel. Beru hugged me, careful not to crush Luke in-between us. "I hope you find your parents, and safe travels" she said.

"Will you keep my mother's chest safe until we get back? I don't want to take it for fear of something happening to it" I said, squeezing her free hand. She smiled and nodded. Ben helped me into the speeder, and then climbed in himself, just as he had done the night before. Owen climbed in on the other side and started it up, directing it to Mos Eisley. There was silence between all of us on the way there, and it wasn't until we were ready to leave that Owen spoke. "I apologize for how I acted towards both of you, but…I fear for my family's safety, especially after those troopers searched our home and questioned us."

I reached over and laid my hand on his arm. "Owen, we understand. Ben has had to live with danger every day he's been alive, and I've had to live with it ever since I married him. Don't apologize."

He looked at me and swallowed hard. I could tell he wanted to say something else, but instead he turned away and said nothing further. I looked over at Ben. Ben simply shrugged and shook his head as Mos Eisley came into view. As we continued to ride in silence, I was reminded of the first time Siri and I met.

"_Hello, my name is Siri Tachi. And you are?" A young, blonde woman asked me. _

"_Uh…Petra Skywalker." I said in reply, smiling._

_She smiled back, her hand resting on her hip. "I'm one of Obi-Wan's friends; but I don't know you."_

_I laughed a little. "I don't see how you would since I've only been here about three hours."_

_Her smile faded somewhat. "Oh. Well…what brings you to Coruscant?" _

"_My brother and I were slaves on Tattoine; Qui-Gon freed us and brought us here."_

"_Interesting" was all Siri said in response as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan came down the hall towards us._

_Siri sidled up to him. "Nice one, Kenobi. She has attitude, I'll give her that. But she also has a smart mouth."_

_He gave Siri a smirk. "You should know what that is."_

_Her smugness turned into slight anger. "Kenobi, I'm serious. She's trouble."_

"_Well, so are you but I still hang around with you." _

_She slapped him on the arm. "Just don't' play into her hands."_

"_I will since you're so jealous."_

"_I'm not jealous!" Siri nearly shouted, incensed at the idea of Obi-Wan calling her jealous. "Maybe I should just run my lightsaber through her right now and be done with it."_

"_That's it." Obi-Wan said ferociously and he tackled her in front of me and Qui-Gon. _

"_All right, all right, enough you two." Qui-Gon said._

"And my friend said that you can borrow his ship for as long as you need it. Just as long as you return it in one piece" Owen was saying.

"Then perhaps I should allow Petra to fly it instead of me" Ben said, grinning at me. I just shrugged and shook my head. We drove into Mos Eisley and headed to the hangars. Once we got there, we met up with an old friend of Owen's, and he led us to his ship. He quickly gave us a tour of the ship and familiarized us with the controls. He wished us a speedy and safe journey and left, leaving us alone with Owen.

"Well…I guess this is where we part company. I hope you find your parents, Petra" Owen said, reaching out and taking my hand. "And again, I'm sorry about the way I acted."

I moved toward him and hugged him, catching him off-guard. "Don't apologize. I don't harbor any hard feelings toward you. And I'm sorry for what Anakin did, it was uncalled for."

Owen sighed. "I don't think Shmi would have approved of his actions."

I shook my head. "No, she wouldn't have. Thank you Owen."

He nodded and walked out of the ship. "We don't have to do this, you know" I said to Ben as he sat down in the pilot's seat. He turned and looked at me.

"Yes, I do" he replied.

I sat down in the co-pilots seat. "Why?"

"I was wrong in not listening to you about coming for your mom when you asked. Forgive me?" He said with his head lowered.

"Ben of course I forgive you. How can I not after all you've done for me?" I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, which made him raise his head. Then, after not seeing it for a long time, he smiled at me. "Now come on, we have a planet to visit."

"As you wish, m'lady" he said, bowing his head and turning to the console. I shook my head and turned to face the window. He started the engines and ran through a pre-flight check, and then we slowly lifted off of Tattoine. As we left the golden sand of Tattoine, I was reminded of the first time I left the planet…and my only home.

"_You know, it's rude to stare at someone when they're trying to sleep." I said with my eyes closed and my back to the doorway. I heard a shuffling of feet in the dark. "I didn't mean to startle you, Kenobi."  
"I apologize; I shouldn't have been watching you." He said softly.  
"It's alright; you didn't stare a hole through me." I said, laughing softly. He didn't respond as he walked over to me and sat down beside me.  
"I never thanked you for helping with the hyper drive; it is running excellently now." He said sincerely.  
I shrugged my shoulders. "It was nothing; just helping out."  
He smiled. "You have a lot of talent for someone your age."  
I shrugged again. "Just credit it to years of forced labor with those kinds of things." I finally just opened my eyes and stared at the bulkhead opposite me.  
"Do you miss Tattoine?" He said, a certain level of concern in his voice._

_I scoffed. "That rock? Heavens no. I don't care where we're going; as long as it's away from there." _

"_I think you exaggerate." He said, his eyes boring into mine. I averted his gaze and returned to staring at the bulkhead._

"_How so?" I said, trying to get him off my back.  
"I'm a Jedi; Jedi can sense these things."  
I rolled my eyes. "You're right; I miss my mother. I didn't get to say goodbye properly." A tear slipped slowly down my cheek.  
"I'm sure she misses you just as much." Obi-Wan said in that lovely warm voice of his.  
"Yeah." I said and I closed my eyes again. But in reality, I wanted to talk to him; let him know how I truly felt. I wanted to tell him that I was scared out of my mind to be caring for Anakin by myself. I felt like I could trust him with anything; and my life. But I held back. I ignored the desire to pour my heart out to him and instead focused on trying to sleep. He got up and walked back to the chair; once seated he began to meditate. I was able to go to sleep but I must have been cold because Obi-Wan took his robe off and laid it over me. I was a little confused when I felt a rough cloth against my face when I woke up but once I realized what it was, I was grateful. The warm, albeit rough robe completely covered me; so, like any person would be comfortable and warm, I snuggled up under it and went back to sleep._

Ben woke me up long enough to direct me to the full-sized bed in the back of the ship. As he left, I grabbed his hand. "Don't' leave; set the ship on autopilot."

When he hesitated, I was afraid he would decide not to stay. But, he squeezed my hand and kissed me on the cheek. "I'll be right back then." A minute or two later, he was back with me; he pulled the curtain over the doorway that separated the rest of the ship from the back and lay down beside me. "Petra, I've been thinking…we haven't…well you know, slept together since I came back after that mission to the Outer Rim."

"So much happened in so little time, there's been no room for it, Ben. Trust me, I'm not upset or anything with you over it" I replied. His hand slipped around to my stomach and pulled me closer to him. He moved the hair off my neck and kissed it.

"You are an amazing woman, Petra Skywalker Kenobi. I love you" he said softly. I turned my head to look at him.

"And you are an equally amazing man, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I love you" I said kissing him on the lips. "How long until we reach Serenno?"

He kissed my nose. "Several more hours; the route I chose was longer, but necessary to avoid any Imperial outposts."

"Then I would say we have time" I said, sighing in the darkness.


	12. Serenno

I felt a gentle shaking and looked up into the eyes of Ben. "I've brought the ship out of hyperspace; we're orbiting Serenno."

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up, pulling the sheet around me. Ben was wearing only his trousers. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

He shrugged. "You were sleeping soundly, and I couldn't bear to wake you up. Besides, I just got up a few minutes ago."

"Why haven't we landed?" I asked. He sat down beside me.

"I'm running scans of the surface, making sure that there are no Imperial outposts there. I don't know what we'll be walking into, and I don't want to be unprepared" he said, sighing. "I'm going back up front."

When he left, I started to get dressed. My stomach began to flutter as I thought about what might be awaiting us down on the surface; are my parents even still alive? Will they want to see me? Will they accept me?

I picked up Ben's clothes and took them with me as I went up front. "You might want to get dressed, Kenobi. Though I don't mind, I don't believe the people on Serenno will enjoy it."

He looked up at me, grinning. "Of course, my love." He stood up and pulled on his clothes. "Go ahead and take us down."

I nodded and switched from autopilot to manual and landed the ship in a meadow far away from the city of Nubal, the capital of Serenno, and Siri's birthplace. "This should be far enough away; you should put your belt on; otherwise you'll lose clothes."

"Yes ma'am" he said, smirking. He fastened his belt and moved his lightsaber to the back of his belt. "Give me yours."

"I don't have it…I lost it when…when Anakin tried to kill me, and frankly I wouldn't want it back" I said, fighting back tears.

He knelt down beside my seat and brushed away one tear that had escaped. "I didn't realize…I'm sorry."

I took a breath and calmed myself down. "It's okay. I keep thinking that if I had done something, I might have been able to stop him or turn him."

He shook his head. "Anakin's mind was made up…or Darth Vader's as we should call him now. He will stop at nothing to hunt us down and kill us to make sure the Jedi are fully extinguished Come on, we should leave before the authorities get suspicious."

I shut the engines off and stood up, then Ben and I headed off the ship and into Nubal, which was approximately three miles away. The information I had gathered on Nubal indicated it would be fairly large, but as we walked on the outer skirts of the city, I began to wonder just how accurate the information was. The village we were entering looked deserted, the houses in disrepair, doors ajar, windows knocked out, and other signs of neglect. A cold feeling passed over me, causing me to shiver. Ben looked at me then grasped my hand, squeezing it. "Do you have any idea as to where we're to go?"

I stopped. "I stuck the papers in your belt."

He opened the largest pouch on his belt and pulled them out. "With no names of your parents or what street they lived on, we'll have to guess or go street by street until we find it." The last words faded away softly, almost as if a realization had struck him. "Wait, Siri once told me she thought she had been born in a village; this could be it."

I rolled my eyes. "That much is obvious, Ben; the question is, just exactly where?"

"Maybe we should ask someone" he replied.

We resumed walking. "Ask who? I'm sure there's a place where they have records on the people who lived here…we just need to find it" I said, quickening my pace. "If I only knew my parents' names, then we'd be better off."

He pulled me into a dark alleyway and clamped his hand over my mouth, pushing me against the wall. "Don't move; there are patrols heading this way."

I glared at him over the hand that was covering my mouth. But, sure enough, there were several armed patrols that passed where we were hiding. When Ben felt that they had moved far enough away, he released me and crept out to the edge of the alley, peeking around the corner. The patrols had moved out of sight and we moved back into the street. "Next time you do something like that, warn me before I start to kick you someplace where it hurts."

He feigned a look of innocence. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you? You love me too much." He placed a kiss on my cheek. I rolled my eyes and slapped him on the shoulder. Men.

After walking a while, I tugged on Ben's arm. "I need to rest a few minutes." He nodded and we sat down on the ground on the side of the street. "I feel like we are going on a wild bantha chase, Ben. I doubt my parents are even still alive."

He turned and looked at me. "Don't say that; we don't know who or where they are, but we'll find them, I promise you." He extended his hand and helped me up.

"Hey, over here" we heard someone whisper. We turned and looked for the source of the voice. We saw a man a couple of houses ahead of us, motioning for us to come to him. Ben and I exchanged glances.

"Stay here, I'll check this out" Ben whispered. He left me standing in the middle of the street while he went over and talked with the man in low tones. Ben looked back at me and waved his hand. I walked over and stood close to Ben. "This is Jolee Bindo. He's a former Jedi and he thinks he can help us find your parents."

"I only say that because you look so much like Corla" Jolee said. He was dark-skinned with gray hair and a gray beard, and he stood several inches taller than either Ben or I. "I can't offer much, but I would be honored if both of you would stay at my house."

Ben shook his head. "We can't risk endangering you."

"Oh posh" Jolee said, scoffing. "No Jedi is going to stay on Serenno unless it's with me; besides, nobody knows I'm a former Jedi myself. You'll be safe here."

I looked at Ben and touched his shoulder. "We should stay at least for a couple of days; I doubt the Empire will be looking for us on a planet within the former Republic."

Ben sighed and weighed the decision carefully. "All right, we'll stay. But the first sign of trouble we're leaving."

Jolee nodded. "Good; this way."

He led us down another alleyway and to a small house. He unlocked the door and walked in after us. "I don't have much, but there is an extra bedroom and I'm sure you both would like a hot meal."

"My cooking is lacking, unfortunately" Ben said. Jolee laughed.

"Very lacking, my love" I replied.

"Jedi aren't taught to cook, only to eat that which they need to survive" Jolee said.

Ben nodded. "See? I have a good excuse. But at least I have a good cook that I'm married to."

Jolee went into the kitchen and brought back some tea. "So, the apprentice of Qui-Gon Jinn got married."

"Qui-Gon kind of put it into my head" Ben said.

"Qui-Gon died over 12 years ago, Jolee; a Sith apprentice killed him" I said, reaching over and taking Ben's hand in mine.

"I'm sorry" Jolee said as he sat down. "He was a good Jedi…a little unorthodox at times, but a very good Jedi."

I sighed and Ben looked at me. "Yes, he was."

"Oh, I'm sorry; you two must be tired" Jolee said. "Let me take you to your room."

"Don't go to any trouble" Ben said.

"It's no trouble" Jolee said, dismissing it. "This room isn't being used anyway."

He picked up our bags and led us to a room down the hallway. It had one window that let in little light, especially since the sun was on the other side of the house. He set our bags down and left us alone in the room. "Why don't you get some rest and I'll fill him in on why we're here" Ben said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked nervously. "I don't feel entirely safe here."

Ben sighed. "I don't either, but we don't have much choice. Besides, he's a former Jedi and I doubt he'd betray us." He kissed me on the cheek and left before I had a chance to argue further. I shut the door and sat down on the bed. I looked around at the sparse furnishings; the man certainly was a former Jedi, for all Jedi were taught not to want or to need things. Unfortunately, Ben and I had never learned not to need or want each other, except in times when we couldn't be together. I sighed and lay down on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Ben and Jolee's voices drifted in from the living room; though their voices were hushed, I could make out some of the words. Ben was asking him if he'd known my parents, with the last name of Tachi, and he said that he had. He had? I sat up quickly and stood by the door.

"I'm sorry, Ben, but both of them died not long after they lost Petra. Corla was not a strong woman, and contracted a disease native to this planet. She never recovered, and Cane died of heartbreak" I heard Jolee said. I left the door and stood near the bed. Part of me was relieved they were dead; I wouldn't have to confront them. On the other hand, I felt sadness at missing an opportunity to know my parents. I heard footsteps approaching the door and sat down on the bed as I had been before, in case Ben came back in. He opened the door, and shut it behind him.

"I figured that you were asleep" he said with a smile as he sat down next to me.

I smiled back. "I guess I should be tired after that trip."

He took off his robe and tunic, tossing them on a chair nearby. "We both should be tired. You look upset."

"I'm not upset; just…tired I guess" I said with a sigh. "I think I'd like to sleep for a while."

He kissed me on the cheek. "Jolee said dinner would be in a few hours, so I think there's time for a nap; if you don't mind me joining you."

"I don't mind one bit" I replied, kissing him softly on the lips. With that, we lay down side by side on top of the covers and slept.


	13. The Next Morning on Serenno

Ben was already out of bed by the time I awoke. Because there was no window, there was no sun to wake me up, so I slept late. He must have sensed that I was awake because he walked in carrying breakfast. "Jolee went out for a couple of hours. He helped me make this…and I promise that it's better than me cooking on my own."

I smiled. "Anything is better than what you cook, Ben."

He sat down and placed the tray on the bed between us. We ate silently, and I was nearly finished before Ben spoke again. "Are you okay? You seem a little distant this morning."

I sighed. "I overheard your conversation with Jolee last night."

He looked down and fell silent. He didn't talk again until we both finished. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"I know" I replied. "And to be honest, I'm saddened. I suppose we came here all this way for nothing. We can just go home today if you want."

He looked over at me with surprise. "Jolee wanted to show you your parents' home. But if you don't want to, I'm sure he'd understand."

"I suppose we could stay until the afternoon" I said softly. "Oh, and by the way…this IS a lot better."

Once Jolee returned, he took us to my parents' home. It was in reasonably good shape, for he had kept watch over it and taken care of it. "I left everything as it was" he said. "I considered renting it out, but, it just didn't seem right. Not to mention, the population dwindled with the epidemic that swept through several years ago. After news of it spread to the galaxy, most people and traders avoided Serenno."

"The Jedi sent out supplies and aid to Serenno during that epidemic. It was one of my first missions with Qui-Gon" Ben said solemnly. "Siri…Siri was on that mission as well."

"Did she know her…I mean our parents were here?" I asked. Jolee looked to Ben.

"She never said," Ben answered. His head hung and I knew that he was upset. Inwardly I sighed; how long would he continue to grieve over Siri's death?

"_What are you doing here?" He yelled. _

"_I'm here to talk to you. " I answered softly and calmly. _

"_Why?" He shouted back._

_I should mention that Obi-Wan had never raised his voice to me until this day. "Because of what happened; I…"_

"_You don't need to know what happened; you're like Siri; your curiosity can't ever be satisfied. Now move out of the way." He started towards me and though I knew he would never strike me, I held my hands out in front of me, which slowed him down but didn't stop him. _

"_Listen to me, Kenobi, you're not the first person to lose somebody he loved. Just don't act like this, please." The pleading in my voice did little to deter him. He only kept trying to leave, at which I kept pushing him back, and finally I pushed him back so hard out of frustration that he landed squarely on the couch. _

"_What was that for?" He asked puzzled._

"_Don't yell at me and then ask why I shoved you. Get a hold of yourself, people die." I answered, my voice raised but firm._

_For a minute, all that could be heard in the room was the sound of our breathing. He didn't do anything but look at me with shock on his face. I knew why: I had never raised my voice with him or shoved him in any way. "Listen Kenobi; I'm sorry I said it that way but the way you've been acting is terrible. Throwing things and getting angry won't change the fact that Siri's dead."_

_For yet another minute, nothing happened. Then, a floodgate of tears opened on Obi-Wan's end. He leaned forward with his head in his hands crying. I sat beside him on the couch and held him, letting him cry against me. "You know, I'm always here if you need to talk to me; and I want to talk to you about this; I hate to see you go through this alone."_

"_You can't understand; I can't…I can't tell you." He answered in-between sobs._

"_Maybe I can't understand but I want to know so I can help you. That's what marriage is about, Kenobi."_

"Get into the back room, hurry!" I heard Jolee say in a frantic voice. I shook my head and barely had time to stand up before Ben grabbed my arm and pulled me into the bedroom.

"What's going on?" I asked puzzled.

"More patrols; someone must have spotted the ship" he answered. "Get under the bed and hide."

"Kenobi, I won't hide under a bed" I said crossing my arms.

He groaned and rolled his eyes in frustration. "Fine, have it your way."

Both of us fell silent and Ben held his lightsaber at the ready. Jolee allowed the patrols in, and we listened as they asked him questions. Questions about if he knew who the ship belonged to, if he had seen any unusual activity lately, etc… Jolee answered no to each of them, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that his Jedi training was coming into play as he answered them calmly. They requested to search his home, and there was a pause, then he answered yes. "Petra, get under the bed now" Ben said firmly, but quietly. I shook my head stubbornly. Ben waited until the patrols came near to the door, waved his hand and whispered, "There's nothing here; let's go."

The leader of the patrols must have been his target, because I heard, "There's nothing here; let's go" and then footsteps heading away from the door. Ben breathed a sigh of relief and clipped his lightsaber back to his belt. The front door closed and Jolee opened the bedroom door. "They've gone. Are you all right?"

We both nodded. "I should have thought of the Force mind trick before they came in" Jolee said regretfully.

I touched his arm. "Jolee, it's okay. Everything's fine now, and hopefully those patrols won't come back for a while." I looked around the dusty old room. "Jolee, why did my parents never look for me? Didn't they know where they had left me?"

He sighed. "Petra, they never intended to lose you. Truth be told, they didn't know where you were, and when they realized you were missing they didn't know where to go or where to start."

I looked at him. "What are you talking about? They left me on Tattoine."

"They didn't. They didn't leave you; you were kidnapped unintentionally" he said.

Ben looked as confused as I felt. "Jolee, speak plain English. Are you saying Petra was accidentally kidnapped and her parents had no idea?"

"More or less, yes that's what I'm saying. Bounty hunters, traders, and pirates used Serenno as a loading place…or they picked up ships that they liked. Petra had an insatiable curiosity and was always exploring. She was especially interested in her parents' ship, and was playing hide-and-seek with Siri when a bounty hunter happened along and took the ship with Petra in it" Jolee said. He looked at me. "Do you remember now?"

"_You hide, and I'll find you" the 6 year old Siri said. _

"_I always have to hide" I said with a pout, crossing my arms. "Why can't you hide?"_

"_Because I'm the oldest, and you have to do what I say" Siri said firmly. _

"_Fine, but I'll hide so good you won't find me!" I replied mischievously. _

_Siri turned around and started to count as I ran in the opposite direction to my parents' ship. I knew how to lower the ramp silently, even though I was only five. I went in, raised the ramp, and turned on the emergency lights in the cabin. I hid in the cockpit underneath the flight panel, giggling to myself. Siri would never be able to find me. _

_I could hear her calling my name outside of the ship. A couple of minutes later, I could hear the ramp lowering and the door sliding open. Figuring it'd be Siri, I sat as still as possible and tried to keep my giggles silent. I figured Siri would call out and ask if I was there, but all I heard were footsteps. I saw the boots of the man before I saw his face, and realized that I was now in trouble. I shrunk back deeper underneath the panel, hoping he would go away and not see me. The man sat down in the pilot's seat and started the engines. Fear started to creep into my heart as I realized he wasn't going away. Alerts went off as the stranger ran a sensor sweep of the ship, making sure he was the only one on board. He pulled out his blaster and stood up, looking around the ship. He turned around and bent down to look underneath the panel; he was nicer looking than I thought he'd be, but it didn't lessen my fear any. He smiled and extended his other hand. "Come on out, I won't hurt you." I shook my head and drew my knees up to my chest. He didn't withdraw his hand or his smile. "I promise I won't; I never hurt little girls."_

_I looked at his hand then back up at his face, and slowly, timidly, I took his hand and he helped me out from underneath the panel. When I stood up and looked out the cockpit window, I realized that we were already nearing the outer atmosphere of Serenno. Panicked, I turned to the stranger. "I want to go home. Take me home."_

_He pricked my arm with something sharp. "You will be home soon…very soon." I remembered no more of the trip to Jabiim._

"Yes, yes, I do remember now. He drugged me and sold me to some slavers" I said slowly. "And…I know who it was."

"Who?" Ben asked.

"Jango Fett. I should have remembered that sooner!" I replied. "Nearly every member of the Fett family has worked for the Hutts at one point or another."

"You told me he beat you badly one day" Ben said puzzled. "If he didn't hurt you once, why would he hurt you later?"

I shrugged. "How should I know? Maybe since there wasn't profit in it for him when I was 11 he decided to use me for a punching bag."

"Siri was frantic when she realized what had happened. She immediately told your parents, and they became panicked as well, though they tried to hide it" Jolee said, breaking our conversation with each other. "They wanted to look for you, but the only way they could get around easily was to take their ship, which was taken. And since they had no idea where you were taken, they didn't venture far from Serenno. They scoured the entire planet and the surrounding planets; and their search took several years. They sent Siri to Coruscant for fear that she might be kidnapped or disappear. Your parents were…how should I say this, a bit eccentric."

Ben smiled. "Well, that explains Petra."

I glared at him. "Very funny. I'm not eccentric."

Ben shrugged and Jolee continued. "Anyway, they never planned to give either of you away to the Jedi, but when you disappeared, they were paranoid about Siri being kidnapped from Serenno, so they sent her to Coruscant. Like I said, they never imagined you were taken all the way to the Outer Rim. If they had known, they would have gone to Tattoine and tried to find you."

"It wouldn't have done much good. My mom, Anakin and I resided on a planet near Tattoine until Ani turned 3. That's when we were sold to the Hutts" I said quietly.

"What planet?" Jolee asked.

"Jabiim, about a light year from Tattoine" I replied. I then spotted a picture covered in dust sitting on a table. I went over and picked it up, dusting it off with the edge of my robe. I realized it was a picture of my parents, Siri, and me, not long after I had turned three. Ben stood behind me looking over my shoulder.

"Siri could pass for your twin" he said softly. I nodded. "Maybe that's why I had such a feeling of déjà vu when I first met you."

"The way you looked at me made the hair stand up on the back of my neck" I said, turning to look at him. "You looked as if you'd seen a ghost."

"I thought I had" Ben said. "Petra, I need to tell you something…about the kids."

"What kids?" I asked.

"Excuse us, Jolee. Come on Petra" he said. He led me outside to the back where we sat underneath a tree.

"Ben what is this about?"

His eyes met mine. "Zett and Luke were killed by Anakin. Luke was killed directly; Zett was killed by Anakin's clone troopers. I didn't tell you because of everything that had happened."

"Anakin nearly killed me, Kenobi. Should I be surprised that he killed my children too?" I asked angrily. "I knew he was crazed, but now I realize fully just how much."

"Yes, he was crazed with the lust for power. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner" Ben said quietly. I buried my outward anger and sat back down. "And I'm sorry that all this happened. It's my fault for asking you to marry me and expecting you to put up with all this."

I rested my hand on his arm. "Kenobi, I accepted that marriage offer, remember?"

"Only because you had to take care of Anakin. That was the only reason" he said, his voice starting to become choked.

"No, that's what you think. I married you because I loved you, Obi-Wan Kenobi" I said.

"_I blew up the droid control ship! All the droids were disabled." He said, beaming. He then noticed my face and his smile disappeared. "What's wrong, sis?" _

_I shook my head. "Qui-Gon…he was killed."_

_Obi-Wan walked back over to me. "I need to talk to you." He grabbed my arm and pulled me away to the side. "I know this is strange and believe me, I don't' know why I'm asking this, but…"_

"_Kenobi, spit it out." I said impatiently._

"_Will you marry me? I love you and I know you'll probably say no but I have to ask before I lose the courage to do so." My mouth dropped open. "I know what you're thinking; I shouldn't be asking this so soon after just what happened. But, if we don't do this now we won't have a chance to do it until we're back on Coruscant and our chances of keeping it secret are better if we do it here and now."_

_I was silent for a few minutes. "Yes, I will." _

_Obi-Wan left without another word. I shrugged and walked back to Anakin. _

_A few minutes later and Obi-Wan returned, motioning for me to join him. "Anakin, I'll be back. Stay here." I said._

_He nodded as I walked towards Obi-Wan. "Come on." He grabbed my hand._

"_Where are we going?" _

"_Just come on." He led me through dark corridors out to a balcony, where a man was there. I seemed to be numb as the Holy Man led us in our vows._

"_You may kiss the bride" the Holy Man said as he raised his hand in blessing of us. Obi-Wan cupped my face with his hands and kissed me. The Holy Man left with the vow of keeping silent. We stayed on the balcony for a few minutes._

"_We should go back. Anakin will get curious." I said, staring up at the beautiful blue skies. He was still holding my hand. _

"_You're beautiful when you're watching the sky." _

"_Thanks but I really think we should go." I looked at him, then removed my hand from his. We walked back to the others in silence._

"_Where did you and Obi-Wan go?" Anakin asked me._

"_We were talking out on the balcony" I replied, looking at Obi-Wan._

"You've been having a lot of memories, lately, haven't you?" Ben asked me.

"What?" I said, shaking my head. What was it about this planet that made me have so many flashbacks?

"You were just remembering our wedding day, weren't you?" he asked.

"How did you know that?" I replied puzzled.

He laughed. "Petra, I'm a Jedi; I know things."

I arched an eyebrow at him. "And just what else do you know?"

"More than you can imagine, my dear" he replied.

"Ben you're looking feverish" I said, feeling of his forehead. "And you feel a little warm too."

"I feel fine, Petra" he replied. But no sooner were the words out of his mouth did he crumple against the tree that was behind the rock we were sitting on. I screamed for Jolee, not even thinking of the danger I just put us in, or could have. Jolee came running.

"What is it?" he asked worriedly.

"We were talking and he just…he has a fever" I replied frantically.

"Help me carry him to my house" Jolee said calmly, almost as if he had instantly recognized what was wrong. But I put aside my questions and helped Jolee carry Ben back to Jolee's home. Once we laid him in the bedroom, Jolee ordered me to cool Ben down while he went to retrieve medical supplies. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he refused to answer, leaving me alone with a feverish and nearly delusional Ben. I tried to cool Ben off as much as possible, a task that included removing most of his clothing in an attempt to let his body heat escape. It didn't make much of a difference, so I filled a bowl with cold water and dipped a cloth in it, running it across his face, neck, and chest. He was shivering but also sweating and hot to the touch. He was calling out a name…_her _name.

"No, Siri, don't" he said while tossing back and forth. "Don't leave me; don't die on me."

Anger should have been my first reaction; and in any normal circumstance, it would have been. But I realized for the very first time just how deeply Siri's death affected Ben. Oh sure, our little shouting match the week after she died made me suspect how close they were, but I thought he had moved on; I thought he had let it go. But I suppose I was wrong.

_The color of the early morning sky clued Obi-Wan and Siri into why the planet they were on had been named the way it did: Azure. They, Anakin, Senator Amidala, and Talesan Fry were assigned to Azure because of the Separatist presence there. Obi-Wan had no time to really enjoy the morning beauty, as he, Anakin, and Talesan were assigned to lead the defensive against the bounty hunter Magus. Talesan had a more personal score to settle: Magus had killed his parents. Obi-Wan found out that Magus was working with the Corporate Alliance, but as of right now, they had to focus on pushing Magus' forces back. _

"_Obi-Wan, come in" he heard Siri's voice say. He tapped his wrist commlink._

"_What is it?" He asked calmly._

"_Magus took off; he's trying to escape, so the Senator and I are going after him" she replied. _

"_Be careful, Siri; he's dangerous" Obi-Wan cautioned. _

"_I'm always careful, Kenobi. Tachi out" she said, smugness in her tone._

_Anakin ran over to Obi-Wan. "The Separatists are in retreat. Where are Master Tachi and the Senator?"_

"_They were stopping Magus from escaping" Obi-Wan replied. "Come on; they might need help."_

_He and Anakin took off in the direction indicated by Siri's comm. signal. If Magus was trying to escape the planet, he would try it by ship; which meant that Siri and Padme would have to be on a ship in order to catch him. _

_But what they saw instead surprised them; two ships were in the clearing. Only one was landed correctly, while the other one had made a crash landing. Anakin paused, but Obi-Wan never hesitated. He ran headlong into the ship, and what he saw made his heart stop. Talesan had an injured Magus at gunpoint, but not far from Magus lay Siri, blood pouring out of her chest and stomach. Obi-Wan lost no time in going to her side, and once he reached her, he tried to stop the bleeding._

"_It's futile, Kenobi. You're not the healer your wife is" Siri said jokingly, and then she proceeded to cough up blood. _

_Obi-Wan's eyes started to fill with tears. "Hang on Tachi; Anakin go get help."_

"_Senator Amidala is on her way to get medical clones" Anakin replied, standing beside his master who was kneeling and holding Siri in his arms._

"_Petra is a lucky woman; she was able to steal your heart when I couldn't" Siri said softly, resting her forehead against Obi-Wan's chest. _

"_I don't know what you mean" he replied, trying to keep her alert and focused._

"_Don't play games with me, Kenobi; I know you're married, and I know you love her" Siri said, regret and sadness lacing her voice. "And she loves you: more than you think."_

"_Siri, I love you. I always have and I always will" Obi-Wan said, the tears flowing freely down his cheeks._

_She touched his cheek with the back of her hand. "I love you too, Obi-Wan Kenobi." She winced as she coughed up even more blood. "My warming crystal; I want you to have it. Don't forget me, Obi-Wan. Promise me."_

"_I promise, but don't leave me. Please don't' leave me Siri" he said strongly._

"_I will always be with you, Kenobi" she said with a smile on her face. She then said something in Huttese and died, her body going limp in Obi-Wan's arms. He bowed his head, the hot tears splashing down onto Siri's now lifeless face. Gently, he laid her down on the floor, and as he tried to compose himself, Magus spoke for the first time._

"_What's this? The great Master Kenobi had a girlfriend and a wife? Such a hypocrite!" Magus said cruelly. He started to laugh, but was quickly silenced by the heat of Obi-Wan's lightsaber at his neck. Obi-Wan's expression was hardened, his eyes flashing angrily, and his jaw tensed as he was fighting not to simply kill the bounty hunter. "Ooh, did I speak out of turn?" Magus said with a sadistic grin. _

"_Master?" Anakin asked cautiously. Obi-Wan remained in his position, tightening and re-tightening his grip on his lightsaber hilt. _

"_Obi-Wan, this isn't the way" he heard a faint voice say. It was enough to break through the fog of anger clouding his mind. "If you kill him, you will lose everything and everyone you love." Obi-Wan realized that it was Qui-Gon. "Love is not of the dark side, but selfishness is."_

_Qui-Gon's voice faded from Obi-Wan's mind, and slowly he lowered the lightsaber to his side before disengaging it. "Anakin take him into custody and send him back to Coruscant to await trial."_

"_But Master…" Anakin began, but Obi-Wan stopped him with a look of deep-set sadness._

"_My order stands" Obi-Wan said as he moved past Anakin. _

"_Your Jedi Master doesn't have the guts to kill someone, does he? Pity…looks like the Jedi Order is becoming soft" Magus said. Anakin turned on him._

"_Why he spared a scumbag like you, I may never know. But you should know that Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't afraid of killing. He prefers diplomacy, but sometimes, diplomacy fails. Talesan, take our friend outside."_

"Petra, I'll need you to stay out of the bedroom" I heard Jolee say. I had never been one to pry into other people's minds, but Ben had taught me how to latch onto memories of others whenever I sensed them; and through that, I could experience what they were remembering.

"Why?" I asked, turning to look at Jolee. "I want to stay with him; I can heal him."

He shook his head. "I doubt it; this is a deadly virus. The less exposure you have to it, the better."

I stood up, never letting go of Ben's hand. "Virus? What are you talking about?"

"Some people have a natural immunity to this disease; since you were born here, it's less likely you will contract it. But for off-worlders, the chance to catch the virus is increased. And if they're emotionally or physically distressed, well, the results are worse" Jolee responded, moving closer to me. "You will do him no good if you catch it yourself; they have developed some medicine for this virus, but it is difficult to obtain the vaccine. However, I can purchase medicine to help combat the virus."

I looked down at Ben's flustered and sweating face. "Will he live?"

"From what I've seen, he's come through a lot; with the medicine, he'll have a good chance" Jolee said, touching my shoulder. "He's in good hands, I promise you."

I bent down and kissed Ben on the forehead, whispered "I love you" in his ear, then left the bedroom. Jolee closed the door behind me, and I was alone in the living room. Sitting down, I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to quiet the fear that was threatening my ability to breathe. I had never imagined that I could lose Ben this way; I had been forced to prepare myself for the possibility that as a Jedi, Ben wouldn't come home from a mission or engagement. But I didn't know that this kind of fearful waiting would be even harder and more difficult to bear.

I just hoped Ben was strong enough. I hoped _I_ was strong enough.


	14. Darkness Before the Dawn

"_It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground" Obi-Wan said as he stood on the lava bank facing his former apprentice._

"_You underestimate my power" Anakin retorted, his yellow-orange eyes flashing angrily. Obi-Wan instantly sensed what he was planning._

"_Don't try it" Obi-Wan pleaded. Anakin used the Force to flip onto the bank, but before he could land, Obi-Wan, in one stroke, cut off Anakin's legs and remaining arm. Anakin rolled down the embankment, only able to stop by grasping the sand with his robotic arm. "You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith not join them. Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!" Obi-Wan cried. _

_Anakin's intense pain fueled his already intense anger. "I hate you!" he screamed at Obi-Wan._

_Obi-Wan's eyes filled with tears as he picked up Anakin's fallen lightsaber. "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you." Anakin's body ignited with flames and Obi-Wan looked away, unable to watch Anakin die. Anakin's screams traveled with Obi-Wan as he returned to the landing platform. _

I sat up straight, my breath coming in gasps and my hands trembling. From the nightmare, I gathered that Ben was reliving his fight with Anakin on Mustafar. And because of the bond that existed between us, those images transferred to me. I stood up and realized that it was dark now; I knocked on the bedroom door and was greeted by Jolee's drawn face. "How is he?" I asked.

"He isn't any better; if anything, he'll get worse. And I have to warn you, he'll be in a great deal of pain for the next few days" Jolee said softly. "You need to shut yourself off from him. He's delusional, reliving moments in his life, and I imagine many of those are painful for you as well."

"I've already seen some of them. I can't just shut myself off from him; he needs me" I said. "Please don't make me do that."

"I'm sorry Petra; I have to" Jolee said sadly. He touched my arm, and it felt as if what little power I had was drained out of me.

"Can't I at least see him?" I asked, tears threatening to spill over.

He shook his head and disappeared into the bedroom. I sat down on the couch with my head in my hands, trying in vain not to allow the tears to fall. I had never before felt so alone.

"Petra? Petra wake up" I heard Jolee say. I felt gentle but strong hands grip my shoulder, shaking me awake.

"Is he okay? He hasn't died, has he?" I asked frantically, remembering where I was and what had happened.

Jolee smiled. "He's still hanging on. I made some breakfast, and you need to eat."

"I don't have much of an appetite" I replied. "But I'll eat."

Although I doubted Jolee had much of an appetite either, he ate with me. As soon as we finished, I offered to clean the dishes so he could return to Ben's side to monitor his condition. In the middle of putting away dishes, I heard a scream that startled me into dropping a plate on the counter. I bent down to pick up the pieces that had scattered on the floor, and heard yet another scream. It made my skin crawl when I realized it was coming from my husband. It wasn't your every day scream; no, it was one filled with anguish and agony, one that was now muffled. Unable to stay in the house any longer, I fled the kitchen into the back alleyway, closing the door behind me as fresh tears fell down my cheeks. _This isn't fair! _my mind screamed. _Why would he survive so much only to be taken away by something like this?_ Silence answered me. I had lost so much…Ben had lost more. I lost my mother and brother; he lost his master, best friend, apprentice, and his home. Ben had always been the strongest of both of us: never failing to amaze me with how quiet that strength was, and yet I took it for granted. I seemed to realize just how much I had depended on him over the years and during the Clone Wars. Even when he faced death, he acted like it was no big deal; almost like he was peaceful about it. Me? Well, I hated the word death. Then again, I doubt anyone really _likes_ it much. The first painful experience I had with death was Qui-Gon Jinn.

"_Petra?" Qui-Gon said weakly as he looked up at me. "You should have stayed put." _

"_I couldn't let you have all the fun" I said, smiling slightly. He smiled back at me, trying in vain to lighten the situation. I felt Obi-Wan next to me and I moved down as he cradled Qui-Gon in his arms. I placed my hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. _

"_It's too late…it's" Qui-Gon said, his breathing ragged and shallow._

_Obi-Wan was crying. "No."_

"_Obi-Wan, promise…promise me you will train the boy." _

"_Yes master" Obi-Wan said as he nodded. _

"_He…is the Chosen One. He will bring balance. Train him." Qui-Gon said._

_Qui-gon's eyes shifted to me. "And take care of her, whatever you do." He stopped breathing and died. I placed my arm around Obi-Wan's shoulder. _

"_This is all my fault." He said between tears._

"_Don't be ridiculous; none of this is your fault" I said, trying to reassure him._

_He gently released Qui-Gon and then to my surprise, he latched onto me. With his head resting on my chest, I rested mine on the top of his and wrapped my arms around him. "I wish I could have saved him." He said, his voice somewhat muffled because of our position._

"_You can't control death." I said softly._

"_But still…"_

"_Obi-Wan, look at me." I said, raising my head. He raised his head and looked at me._

"_I think Qui-Gon knew he was going to die."_

_He shook his head. "I know that but I didn't think that it would be so soon."_

"_Kenobi, we can't hold on to anything or anyone forever. Everyone dies and we have to accept that."_

Sliding down the wall, I wrapped my arms around myself as I landed on the ground. If I listened carefully, I still heard the muffled screams of Ben. Jolee didn't tell me that Ben would be in this much pain, and I wish he had in order to prepare me. I stood up and decided then and there that I would NOT leave Ben's side, no matter what Jolee said or did, so I went back in the house and into the bedroom. I understood why Ben's screams were muffled: Jolee had a piece of thick cloth in Ben's mouth that his teeth were biting down into. Jolee also had him restrained to the bed because of how much Ben was thrashing around. Before Jolee could stop me, I quickly went to Ben's side and touched his hot forehead. As my fingertips stroked his forehead, he ceased his struggle and his anguished cries.

"Perhaps I was wrong in not letting you stay" Jolee said, breathing heavily. "But I still think it's a bad idea."

"He needs me, Jolee; more than ever" I replied, turning to look at him. "I don't care if I catch the virus; but I refuse to leave him again."

Jolee sighed and nodded. "Your mother was equally as stubborn. When your father had heart problems, she refused to give up on him, and he pulled through. But when she took ill and died, Cane died of heartbreak; he loved her very much, as you love Ben. I only hope that you are strong enough to handle his death if he doesn't pull through."

"I refuse to accept that he won't recover" I replied firmly. "He'll make it."


	15. A Ray of Hope

The next several days dragged on and on for what seemed like forever, but finally, Ben started to improve. The medicine Jolee had given him started to work, and on the 10th day of Ben's illness, Ben's fever finally broke, and his hallucinations ceased. Ben slept until the twelfth day, when he finally opened his eyes and acknowledge my presence. "Petra?" he asked weakly.

I moved to look him in his eyes. "I'm here."

He smiled faintly. "Clearly I am too."

Laughing softly, I kissed him on the cheek. "We thought…we were afraid you wouldn't be. But I knew you were too stubborn to let something like a virus kill you."

"I feel so weak and sore" he said, trying in vain to lift his hand to my face.

"Jolee said that the virus, whatever it is, drains your energy and attacked your immune system; that is why you feel awful" I replied. "Just rest and we'll go home."

"Have there been any more patrols?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Jolee has been keeping an eye out for them, but none have returned."

Seeming at ease, Ben closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Truth be told, there were patrols that seemed to be watching the house, but I didn't want to hinder Ben's recovery, or make him feel like he should rush it. I never thought I would feel this way, but I missed the little hut on Tattoine. If I hadn't insisted, Ben never would have fallen ill, and we wouldn't be stuck on Serenno. I was angry at myself for not behaving more Jedi-like. "There was nothing you could have done to prevent this" Jolee said as he stood in the doorway.

"I insisted that we come; it IS my fault" I replied, hot tears again spilling down my cheeks, only this time, they were tears of anger, not tears of sadness.

Jolee grabbed my hand and led me outside to the living room. "He brought you here though; he agreed to come with you. Didn't you two get into a scrape before the Clone wars began, and he apologized for getting you into it?"

"Well, yeah but…" I stopped and blinked in sudden confusion. "How did you know about that?"

"I was a former Jedi myself, Petra. I picked up on his thoughts just as easily as you did" he replied. "Didn't you tell him that you had agreed to come with him?"

"_We're not going back." Obi-Wan said._

"_Why?"_

"_We have business to do." He said. _

"_Like what?" I asked, puzzled._

"_What we discussed last night; I know who to talk to about it." A flash of excitement crossed Kenobi's face. Inwardly I groaned. _

"_Fine; let's go then." I stood up and followed him off the bus. We walked to 'downtown' Coruscant to Dex's Diner. I never much cared for the four-armed alien but Obi-Wan trusted him. _

"_Someone to see ya, honey! Jedi by the looks of 'em" She called and Dex appeared from behind the kitchen counter. _

"_Obi-Wan, Petra!" Dex said. _

_Obi-Wan smiled. "Hello Dex."_

"_Take a seat, I'll be right with you." Dex replied as he shuffled out of the kitchen._

"_Ya wanna couple cups of Jawa juice?" The waitress asked. _

"_Yes, thank you." Obi-Wan said. _

"_Kenobi, you know I hate Jawa juice." I said, not nearly as happy to be here as he was._

"_Just drink it anyway; I have a feeling it's courtesy of Dex." We walked to a booth but just as we sat down Dex joined us. He hugged Obi-Wan, then me. _

"_Hey, ol' buddy. Petra you are looking lovely as ever." Dex said as he sat down across from us in the booth._

_I blushed; even compliments from a four-armed alien are nice. "Thanks."_

"_So, my friends, what can I do for you?" Dex asked with a smile._

_Obi-Wan held up the dart. "You can tell me what this is." He then set it down on the table between himself and Dex. _

_Dex picked it up and held it in the palm of his hand. "Well, whaddya know. I ain't seen one of these since I was prospecting on Subterrel beyond the Outer Rim."_

_The waitress droid came back with the drinks. "Can you tell me where it came from? Thank you." Obi-Wan said as he handed a cup of juice to me and I drank it, suppressing the urge to grimace._

"_This baby belongs to one of them cloners…what you have here is a Kamino saberdart." _

"_I wonder why it didn't show up in our analysis archive" Obi-Wan said. He had that look on his face that said he was thinking._

_Dex shook his head. "It's these funny little cuts on the side that give it away. Those analysis droids only focus on symbols. I should think you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and…wisdom."_

_Obi-Wan grinned. "Well, if droids could think there'd be none of us here, would there? Kamino…I'm not familiar with it, is it in the Republic?"_

"_No, no, it's beyond the outer Rim. I'd say about twelve parsecs…outside the Rishi Maze. Should be easy to find, even for those droids in your archives. These Kaminoans, they're cloners; darn good ones too."_

_Obi-Wan picks up the dart and examines it. "Cloners…are they friendly?'_

"_It depends." Dex grinned. _

"_Depends on what Dex?" Obi-Wan asked. _

"_On how good your manners are…and how big your uh, pocketbook is."_

"_Come on." Obi-Wan stood up abruptly; since the Jedi archives held no answer, I thought we were finished chasing banthas. _

"_Where are we going now?" I sighed. _

"_Just come on, Skywalker." He started to walk off and I followed, having to walk fast to keep up with his strides. We passed several Jedi on our way to the training area, mainly used by Yoda. He looked up and saw us approach._

_He tapped his cane on the floor. "Younglings, younglings; two visitors we have."_

_The children turned off their practice lightsabers. "Hello Master Obi-Wan, Jedi Petra." They said in unison. _

"_Hello", Obi-Wan replied to the younglings. "I'm sorry to disturb you Master" he said to Yoda, bowing slightly._

"_What help can I be?" Yoda asked._

"_I'm looking for a planet described to me by an old friend. I trust him but the system doesn't show up on the archive maps." Obi-Wan said._

_Yoda chuckled. "Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing; how embarrassing." The children giggled and I couldn't help but laugh softly with them. "Liam, the shades. Gather around the map reader; clear your minds, and find Obi-Wan's wayward planet we will."_

_A stick-like shaft came up out of the floor and Obi-Wan placed a small glass ball into the top. Two seconds later, we were surrounded in stars. "It ought to be…here, but it isn't. Gravity is pulling all the stars in the area towards this spot." Obi-Wan said, pointing to a part of the star field. _

"_Most interesting. Gravity's silhouette remains, but the star and all its planets, disappeared they have; a thought? Anyone?" Yoda asked the class._

_Luke, our youngest whom we had given up, said "Master? Because someone erased it from the archive memory." Obi-Wan looked at me and we both smiled. Yoda chuckled again. _

"_Truly wonderful the mind of a child is. The Padawan is right; go to the center of gravity's pull, and find your planet you will."_

_Yoda and Obi-Wan walked back towards the doorway, where I was standing. Obi-Wan called the glass ball to him and the star field disappeared. _

"_But Master Yoda, who could have erased information from the archives? That's impossible, isn't it?" Obi-wan asked._

"_Dangerous and disturbing this puzzle is. Only a Jedi could have erased those files, but who and why, harder to answer. Meditate on this, I will; may the Force be with you both." _

_Obi-Wan started to walk out then turned back to Yoda. "Master, I ask permission for Petra to help me on this mission. It will be good experience for her."_

_I wanted to strangle the bearded Knight. Yoda thought a moment. "My permission, you have."_

_Later that Day on Geonosis…_

"_I will never join you, Dooku" Obi-Wan said strongly. _

_Dooku turned to leave. "It may be difficult to secure your release….and her's."_

"_Let her go, Dooku; she's innocent in this." Obi-Wan pleaded. _

"_I wouldn't be so sure. However, I'm not entirely heartless; I will let you two say your goodbyes." Dooku left and walked into my cell. He motioned to two of the guards and they picked me up, rather roughly, and carried me into Obi-Wan's holding cell. They threw me down on the ground and left. _

"_What have they done to you?" Obi-Wan asked, worry and love etched across his features._

"_Nothing, I'm fine. I've been hit a lot harder." I responded with a smile._

"_This is my fault; I asked you to come." He hung his head._

"_I was the one who agreed, Kenobi; don't apologize or think it's your fault." More than anything I wanted to go to him and hug him but the force field would keep me from doing so. _

_Silence hung between us for a few minutes. "Petra, I love you."_

"_I love you too, Kenobi."_

_An hour or so later, we were taken to a dark tunnel and chained to a cart to await our fate._

"_We'll be okay." Obi-Wan said, looking over at me. _

"_Yeah sure…" I said in reply, sniffling back tears. _

_He leaned toward me and I met him in the middle; our lips met and we kissed one last time…_

"That was different, Jolee. It was absolutely necessary to find who was trying to assassinate Senator Amidala" I said, coming out of my reverie.

"Was it? Why did you go with him?" He asked, sitting down on the sofa.

At a loss for words, I sat down. Why HAD I accompanied Ben on that mission? "I guess I went because I wanted to be with him."

He nodded. "And he came with you to Serenno because he loves you. Don't you see how much he cares for you?"

"He loved Siri more" I said sadly. "Didn't you hear him call out her name?"

"He lost a great friend and someone he had shared years of Jedi training with" Jolee said evenly. "It had to be painful to lose someone you've known almost all your life."

"I suppose" I said with a sigh. "But still…"

"Part of you feels betrayed that he didn't give his heart completely to you like you thought?" Jolee said, leaning back against the sofa.

"How can I be sure what his motives were for marrying me?" I replied quickly.

"He gave you children, didn't he? Surely he didn't sleep with you simply because it was something to do" Jolee said casually. I blushed. I suppose my continuing jealousy of Siri overrode my good sense. I knew our times together weren't an act; if he didn't love me, he wouldn't have thought it worthwhile to romance me at times.

"You're right; I was just upset" I said, sitting down. "I've always been jealous of Siri."

He smiled. "And more than likely, she was jealous of you."

I looked up and over at him, puzzled. "Why would she be jealous of me? He loved her first."

"Well…it's fairly obvious: Ben disobeyed the Jedi Code by marrying you, something he and Siri weren't willing to do together. Why wouldn't she be jealous?"

"That makes sense; were we ever close when we were younger?" I asked tentatively.

He nodded. "Very close; you were both close to your parents, and they spoiled both of you. Perhaps a little too much at times, but they loved you both; especially you."

"Why me?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Your mother had a difficult time conceiving after Siri was born. She tried medication and doctors, but nothing helped. She gave up all hope of ever having another child" he said.

"But clearly she did have me" I said, still slightly puzzled.

"She conceived you with her brother's help" Jolee said.

At this, I sat up straighter. "Her brother's help? How?"

"He used his Jedi powers to…help the midichlorians along. A few months later, you were born" he said, leaning forward.

"Conception by midichlorians? I couldn't have been born by that" I said in disbelief.

He shook his head. "Your brother was conceived completely by midichlorians, correct? You were not; your uncle simply helped nature out."

"Who was my uncle? Clearly he was a powerful Jedi to be able to do that" I said, now very interested.

"You didn't know?" he said with an amused look on his face. I shook my head in response. "Your uncle was count Dooku."


	16. Revelations

I stood up. "He couldn't' have been. He was a Sith."

"Well, he was your uncle, regardless of whether you like the truth or not" Jolee said, standing up and moving to the kitchen. "He was a good man before he left the Order."

I sighed and followed him. "He turned me over to another Sith to be tortured. He led my husband into a trap, and he was tortured by the same Sith. A good man? I highly doubt it."

Jolee rested his hands on the sink. "I didn't realize that. It is possible he didn't know who you were."

"I suppose, but we'll never know for sure" I said, leaning against the counter. "How long will it be before Ben and I can go home?"

He turned to look at me. "Give it at least another week. Hopefully your ship hasn't been confiscated or found."

"Will the patrols return?" I asked.

He nodded. "More than likely; clearly, the Empire knows something we don't."

"Like what?" I said, confused.

"Maybe they suspect that you two are here, and notified the local authorities" Jolee said, washing his hands.

My heart started to race. "How could they know? We were so careful to hide our identities."

"The dark side searches even those things which are hidden. It is possible they have found you."

It was amazing. To be honest, I had never feared my brother or what he could do, even when I knew he had a temper that he rarely controlled. But now, I was more fearful than ever, very aware of what he could do to me and to Ben. Would he refrain from torturing or killing me? No, because he had already tried to kill me once. The man that I once knew as Anakin Skywalker had been completely consumed by a monster known as Darth Vader. I didn't know if any remnant of Anakin still existed, but I hoped…perhaps in vain that he would come back to who he originally was. "If that's the case then we should move him now. You can trick them for only so long."

Jolee was silent for a minute. "All right; we'll move him tomorrow. But in the meantime, he needs something to eat." Jolee set about making some soup for Ben while I considered the possibility of our being captured. Our escape depended on me and Jolee alone; Ben wouldn't be much help. If we failed, Ben and I would be caught, tortured, and more than likely killed by the Empire.

"Here's his soup; he only has to eat the broth" Jolee said, handing me a tray with the soup on it. I walked into the bedroom and set the tray on the side table.

I touched Ben's bare shoulder and he roused awake. "I brought you something to eat" I said, sitting down on the bed and setting the tray in my lap.

He sat up. "Did you make it?"

"No, Jolee did; and frankly, by the smell of it I'm not sure how good it is" I said, shaking my head. Ben started to feed himself, but his hand shook and dropped the spoon on the tray. He groaned in frustration and his head fell back against the pillow. "Here, let me do it. I don't mind." I picked up the spoon, filled it with broth and held it to his lips; he swallowed it and wrinkled his nose in a way that made me laugh. "I guess I was right; it isn't that good."

"Can't you make something else?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I don't want to hurt his feelings; hold your nose when you swallow."

"I'm a Jedi; I've eaten worse" he replied. I laughed as I fed him more and soon the bowl was nearly empty.

"I think that's enough for now. Tomorrow I'll fix you something that's good" I smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Petra, did I hallucinate?" Ben asked as I moved the tray to the bedside table.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just…I could have sworn I saw Siri next to me a few times. I was just wondering if maybe…if maybe I…" he trailed off as he hung his head.

"Ben, you did call out her name a few times" I said softly.

He shook his head. "Petra I am so sorry."

"It's okay."

He looked up at me. "It is?"

I nodded. "I know you loved her and that her death hurt you. But it would have been nice if you had let me in when she died."

"I didn't think you would understand; you always got so jealous around her" Ben said.

"Do you blame me? You were in love with her first; you had known her longer than you knew me. Besides, she was jealous of me" I replied, standing up.

"She never wanted to have a relationship. It took years for her to admit she loved me; and vice versa. When I met you…Petra, you made me feel like nobody else did; not even Siri."

"Oh, Ben" I said, sinking back down onto the bed. "Do you really mean that?"

He leaned forward and kissed me. "You know that I rarely say things I don't mean."

I picked up the tray and stood up. "I'll be back after I clean this up." I stopped when I reached the door. "And if Jolee asks how you liked the soup, I'll tell him that you enjoyed it."

"Don't do that; he might make it again" Ben said, groaning. I smiled and went into the kitchen.

"Was he able to eat it?" Jolee asked me.

"He ate most of it" I replied, trying to keep from laughing.

Jolee eyed me warily. "He didn't like it, did he?"

I instantly sobered. "I didn't say that."

"It's all right Petra. It wasn't intended to be good; I included some herbs and medicines that will accelerate his healing" Jolee said, laughing. "I promise I'm a much better cook than that."

"Oh good" I laughed. "Ben isn't a very good cook either; the few times he's tried he has burned whatever it was he was cooking."

"You've told me; perhaps when you get back to Tattoine you can give him some lessons" Jolee said, taking the dishes from me.

"Do you think we can go home tomorrow?" I asked.

"Only if your ship is still there" he replied, setting the dishes in the sink. He wiped his hands. "Come with me."

"Right now? But what about Ben?"

"Ben will be fine; just let him know we're going to get things ready for tomorrow" Jolee said as he left the kitchen.

"We're going to get the ship ready to go tomorrow morning" I said as I headed into the bedroom. "We should be back in an hour or so."

"Be careful" Ben said, sitting up.

I leaned down and kissed his forehead. "We will."

Leaving the bedroom, I was greeted by Jolee. He shut the door of the bedroom before speaking. "Whatever I tell you to do, do it."

"Jolee, I can defend myself. Ben did teach me a few things" I said, offended.

He placed his hands on my shoulder. "I intend on bringing you back in one piece to him. Follow whatever order I give you, Petra; I mean it."

"Okay, fine. I suppose I don't have much of a choice."

He dropped his hands to his sides. "Good. We should go before it gets much later."

"Jolee?" I asked. "What would happen if we got caught?"

"The local authorities would question us. It's very possible that there is a wanted picture of Ben circulating on the holonet" he replied. "But since Ben is lying low, we should have no problems."

"They wouldn't turn us over to the Empire?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it; but we have no reason to get caught, now do we?"

"I suppose not" I answered as we walked out of the house. We made our way through the alleys into the street because sneaking around made things look more suspicious than they already were, and the danger we were both in was enough to prevent us from adding to it. Jolee spotted patrols ahead, and touched my hand to make sure I was aware of them. I smiled and nodded at them as they passed by, and, much to my chagrin, endured the whistles they sent my way. However, they continued walking on, and Jolee and I discreetly made our way to the clearing beyond the city. To distract myself from worrying, I decided to ask Jolee a question that had been plaguing me for years.

"Jolee, are these markings normal for Serennians?" I asked, motioning to the tattoos visible on my bare arms.

He stopped and looked at them. "Yes, every person of Serennian heritage retains those markings; it's most prominent on women, but men have them too."

"I always wondered…my mother said that it was because I spent too much time in the sun" I said, "but sunburn doesn't create tattoos."

"No, it doesn't" he replied. "Here we are."

Our ship was still in the place we had left it, and from our vantage point, looked to be the same. "Stay here while I check it out" Jolee said quietly. I nodded and allowed him to move ahead without me as I stayed behind in the tall grasses. He made his way to the ship slowly and carefully, making sure to avoid detection. After a few cramped minutes of hiding, he signaled that the coast was clear. Relieved, I stood up, stretched my legs and joined him near the ship. "It looks untouched…but we should be careful going inside" he said. I allowed him to go into the ship first, but I followed close behind. Our search of the ship turned up nothing; however, Jolee wanted to run a system check to be sure everything was working. Fortunately, everything was in its place and working perfectly. "I guess this means we can go home" I said with relief.

"I hope it is as easy to leave the planet as it was to land" he replied solemnly. "That will determine whether you can leave or not."

"You mean, it depends on whether or not there are troopers from the Empire?" I said, crossing my arms. "Really, Jolee, you can be honest with me."

"Well, yes that is what I meant" he said in resignation. "We should get back." We shut off the ship's systems, made our way down the ramp, closed the ship up and made our way back to the house. The neighborhood was quiet…too quiet. When we went inside, every piece of furniture was either broken or misplaced. Panicked, I ran to the bedroom, but what I saw made my heart jump into my throat. The bed covers were scattered around the room, the water pitcher broken into pieces, and the mattress overturned. But Ben was nowhere to be found.


	17. The Worst is Yet to Come

"Well, whoever took him wasn't shy about destroying everything" Jolee said as he picked up the last chair that was intact. "I can ask around; see if anyone saw anything."

"They won't talk" I replied. "Besides, I have a feeling about who took him. Someone from the Empire must know we're here."

"I don't know who, unless they have been keeping tabs on communications between the incoming ships and the planet authorities" he said, walking into the bedroom.

"Well, let's go try to find him" I said, starting to walk out. He caught me by the arm. "Jolee let me go."

"Did Ben teach you nothing? Haste is only going to hurt him worse and get you into more trouble" he said, tightening his grip on my arm. "Patience."

"Patience? How do you expect me to be patient when he could be somewhere in pain?" I glared at him. "He might be tortured."

"Not if he cooperates" Jolee replied calmly. I looked at him in shock.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm sorry Petra" he said, lifting his hand to my neck. I felt a sharp prick and then I blacked out.

When I awoke, I had one heck of a headache. My neck was aching, and I reached to feel it, but my hands were restrained. Opening my eyes, I at first couldn't make out much of anything because of the darkness, but once my eyes adjusted, I was able to see that my hands were chained to a wall, and I was lying on my back. I pulled against the chains, hoping against hope that I could pull free, but I could not. I was, however, able to use my chains to pull myself up to a sitting position, with my right shoulder against the wall. My mind was clouded, but only for a moment as I slowly recalled what had happened. Jolee had betrayed us! A former Jedi, even! Anger coursed through my veins, and for one moment, I wished I had the lightsaber skills of Ben or Anakin. Then I sobered for I realized that regardless of how angry I was, I was imprisoned. I would have to wait for freedom, and already that wait seemed like an eternity. Sighing, I leaned my head against the wall, hoping that Ben was all right wherever he was.

"Where is she?" Ben demanded. He himself was lying on his back on a table with arm and leg restraints.

"Don't worry; she's in a cell awaiting her interrogation" the man in black said.

Ben struggled against his restraints. "Let her go."

"She could prove very valuable to us, if she cooperates" the man continued. "If not, we will simply have to persuade her to comply."

"Don't hurt her, please" Ben pleaded. "I'll do anything."

The man smirked as he lifted up a needle. "If she doesn't comply, she'll talk once she gets a dose of this."

The sound of the door opening jerked me awake, for I must have dozed off. Two troopers stepped inside my cell, followed by a man wearing black. Instinctively, I tried to move back into the corner, but was stopped by my chains. "Your husband would not divulge anything…perhaps I can convince you" the man in black said in a deep voice. "Free her and bring her to the interrogation room."

Roughly, the two troopers unlocked the chains and forced me to my feet; they drug me to a room and forced me to sit down in a chair, tying my hands behind my back. "Look, I don't know what you think we did, but we didn't do it."

"Oh really? Then it isn't true that your husband is a former Jedi in exile?" the black-wearing man said as he stepped into the room. "Or that you were injured by Darth Vader and nearly killed on Coruscant? Aren't you Petra Skywalker Kenobi? Come, come my dear, surely you don't deny that!"

Sensing that it would be for the best, I closed my mouth. Clearly, whoever this person was, he was working for the Empire. Then another thought crossed my mind: why did Jolee betray us? Ben swore up and down that Jolee was a Jedi. What, then, could possess him to betray fellow Jedi? The man in black cleared his throat. "Have you nothing to say?" he asked. I shook my head no. "Very well then." He held up a needle as one of the troopers ripped my right sleeve off. The injection was painless at first, but gradually the pain level increased to an almost unbearable burning sensation. "Right about now, you should be experiencing a burning pain in your arm. Soon it will spread to the rest of your body if you don't tell me what I want to know."

Determined not to allow him to intimidate me, I replied, "ask away, but I won't tell you anything."

He smirked. "Stubborn young woman, aren't you? Nearly as stubborn as your husband. I'll ask you again: are you Petra Skywalker Kenobi?"

Wincing, I didn't know how to respond. My human instinct told me to tell him as much as I could to save my life. My Jedi training told me that it was better to die in pain than to live with the knowledge of betraying my husband and the Order. I sensed from Ben that they had already questioned him and had received nothing; I determined to do the same thing, so I sat in silence. The man began to tap his foot impatiently. I smiled. "You'll get nothing from me, whoever you are. I suggest you give up now."

He grabbed my hair and pulled my neck back roughly. "Tell me where you are living on Tattoine or I will personally kill your husband."

"Our deal was you would only torture them, not kill them" I heard Jolee say as he stepped into the room. The man released my hair. "Really, Kaleth, you aren't going to get cooperation that way."

"I'm only doing my job. You can try interrogating her; she won't tell me anything" Kaleth said in frustration.

"Leave us then" Jolee said to him. The man started to protest but left without saying another word. The troopers left as well as Jolee stayed behind. I glared at him as best I could through my pain.

"Traitor. We trusted you; how could you do this to us?" I said, tears stinging my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Petra. I had no choice" he replied, with a hint of regret.

"No choice? There is always a choice between right and wrong" I spit out angrily. "Anakin had a choice and he chose to betray us. You had a choice to protect us and you turned us over to the Empire."

"They already knew you were there. I was simply keeping them away until after I had gained your trust…I wasn't counting on Ben to get sick" Jolee said. "If he had died I would have lost everything."

I rolled my eyes. "How comforting. So now what? Are you just going to let them torture me until I confess? Or are you going to let them torture me until they kill me?"

His eyes softened. "They aren't with the Empire. But they are acting under orders from the Empire that if any suspicious activity is spotted, they are to interrogate the suspects."

"Interrogate is another word for torture-until-they-talk" I replied. "How could you, of all people, even remotely align yourself with the Empire?"

Jolee straightened. "The people of Serenno, if you hadn't noticed, are impoverished. It is next to impossible to maintain a living, especially after the way the war ravaged our planet. Sometimes you have to compromise your values in order to survive."

"The Jedi philosophy isn't so conceited. They would never compromise in order to survive" I said, not knowing why I so vehemently defended the Order that I had occasionally loathed.

"The Jedi no longer survive, do they?" and with that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving me alone.

Either a few minutes or a few hours later, I was taken back to my cell, the pain ever increasing. It seemed to pervade even my bones, and it felt as if my very joints were on fire. I shuddered to think of the likelihood of even more torture, but then again, I had withstood more than this with Asajj, hadn't I? However much I tried to convince myself that we would eventually escape, my own pessimism invaded my thoughts and threatened to crumble my silent resolve. I would not break. I couldn't tell them anything because it would destroy everything that my husband and Yoda had worked to preserve. The Jedi Order, whether I liked it or not, survived with the three of us. Now, the slim chance that the Order could eventually be restored faded even more. If Ben and I were probed and killed, the Empire could eventually locate Luke and Leia, destroy them, and the Jedi Order would never be revived. I shut my eyes, trying to get rid of that last thought, but it was a very strong possibility. If Vader got wind of our capture, and he more than likely had, he would stop at nothing to find out if there were any surviving Jedi besides Ben and me. My eyes still closed, I tried to adjust my position against the wall to no avail; the pain seemed to be paralyzing and I felt like just staying still. Sleep was impossible and comfort was now irrelevant. I had to try to pry the lock of my chains, so I felt in my hair for a hair pin. Luckily, I hadn't removed them all this morning, so I took one out and started to pick at the lock.

Meanwhile…

Ben was in a separate cell restrained the same way I was. And he had tried to convince Jolee to help us to no avail. At least, that's what we thought. After trying to convince his superiors that contacting Vader wasn't necessary, Jolee was forced to decide what was more important: guaranteed safety from the Empire, or rescuing the two Jedi he had befriended. He realized that, in the end, there was really only one choice.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I looked up at Jolee. He entered my cell and bent down next to me. "Lower your voice" he said. "I don't want them getting suspicious."

"Getting suspicious of what? I don't have to do anything you tell me to do" I responded, instinctively sitting up. He pulled a pin out of his pocket and picked the lock of my chains, helping me up once I was free. "Can you walk?" he asked. I nodded. "Good; you'll need to be able to for us to get out of here."

I looked at him. "Why are you doing this?"

He sighed. "I never meant for this to happen…honestly."

"But what you said earlier" I began but he held up his hand to interrupt me.

"What I said earlier was wrong and selfish. We were being monitored, but even then, what I said was somewhat true" he said as he lowered his hand. "I know it wasn't right; that's why I'm doing what I'm doing."

I wanted to trust him. I really did. But he had betrayed us, so how could I trust him again? "We must hurry" he said as he grabbed my hand. "The guards will be changing soon, and there's a full two minutes between changes." He pulled me along the darkened corridor to Ben's cell. Ben looked up as we entered his cell and his eyes flashed anger.

"Getting her to help your cause, are you?" Ben said with disgust. I took the pin from Jolee and used it to free Ben. "Why are you helping him?"

"I'm helping him because we're escaping" I responded blankly and helped him stand. "I know he can't be trusted, but we have to get out of here while we can." Ben looked at me warily, wondering if somehow I'd been brainwashed. I shook my head at him, silently pleading with him to trust me. He slowly nodded and Jolee led us down another corridor, every so often stopping to listen for footsteps following us. There were none yet, but we were still in a great deal of danger. Suddenly, we heard men shouting, "Prisoner escape! Prisoner escape!" and we knew that the time for caution was now over. Now, it was a mad dash for freedom.


	18. Out of the Woods, Or Are We?

"We can go through here as long as there are no guards around" Jolee said as we ran, or rather limped, to the nearest exit. Thankfully, the doors swung open easily and there were no guards in sight…yet. "Continue out that doorway, go to the left and keep running" Jolee said as he slowed to a stop. Ben and I stopped with him. "I'll try to distract them as long as possible, but you must leave this planet immediately." Unfastening the pouch on Ben's belt, he slipped two syringes and a vial of something inside.

Ben looked at me with uncertainty. "May the Force be with you, Jolee" I said as Ben and I resumed our running/limping towards the doorway. Not wasting time looking back, I flung open the door with the Force and turned to the left, seeing an open street. "Where do we go now?"

"The clearing where we landed is to the southeast; that way" Ben said and pointed. He was in a lot of pain, as was I, but regardless, we kept moving. Quickly we moved towards the clearing, all the while hearing the blare of the alarms at the prison. We knew that it was critical to get into the ship, get it started, and get off Serenno before we were stopped or spotted. The ship was in sight when we heard footsteps behind us. "They're after us; don't look back" Ben shouted as he knew I was tempted to stop and look. Ben used the Force to lower the ramp and we made it inside before the guards could enter. Dumping him unceremoniously on the co-pilot's seat, I started the engines and skipped the pre-flight test. All the while, the guards were firing at the ship, but the blasts bounced off doing little damage to the hull. Finally, we were up and away, heading for the safety of space, wondering what would become of our friend who had betrayed us, and then surprisingly, helped us to escape. It was while the ship was leaving orbit that I realized anew how much pain I was in. The running we had done, coupled with exertion, had helped to increase the burning sensation. Then, I recalled that Jolee had put something into Ben's pouch; could it be that he gave us an antidote? But I had no time to think of that; I had to worry about getting us back home.

Finally out of the atmosphere, I set a course for Tattoine, but with a twist: I erased the ion signature of our engines, engaged hyperdrive, then turned on the autopilot. I dug into the pouch on Ben's belt where I saw Jolee slip the syringes and pulled them out along with the vial. "What is that?" Ben asked.

"I think he gave us an antidote to whatever it was they injected us with," I replied. I filled the syringes as Ben eyed me cautiously. "Look, I know he turned us in, but he helped us escape, didn't he?"

"He did, but what if there's a trap waiting on Tattoine?" Ben said in his typical Jedi-likeness.

I sighed. "I hadn't thought of that, but I'm taking this medicine; you can take it or leave it and be in pain." I rolled up my sleeve and injected myself.

"Fine, and if you fall over dead I'll know not to" he said dryly. I rolled my eyes and handed him the syringe.

"It's fine; it's already helping the pain to ease" I said, dropping the syringe into his hand. He looked at me.

"Why don't you do it? I'm not good with needles" he said, handing the syringe back to me. I shook my head and injected him with it.

"There; see it's not poison" I remarked, turning back to the console and leaning back into the chair. "I don't see any ships following us…maybe we will be fine after all."

Ben eyed the console carefully. "Jolee knew where we are staying; I wouldn't put it past him to send ships ahead of us to catch us there."

"They know we're staying on Tattoine, but they don't know where" I said, looking over at him. "They'd have to scour the entire planet to find the hovel anyway. Don't look so worried. Let's get some sleep; I doubt we're being followed."

Ben was the first to get up and head back to the back bedroom, and I went with him and made out like I was going to sleep along with him. As soon as he was asleep, I got up, dressed, and shut the door behind me as I went back to the cockpit. I pulled the engines out of hyperdrive into a dead stop, knowing that if my suspicions were correct, I couldn't allow anyone to follow or catch us. I scoured the ship for a tracking device, but found none. I then ran a peripheral of the outer hull, carefully searching for anything out of the ordinary. Breathing a sigh of relief, I realized we were mostly safe. As long as there was no tracking device, they wouldn't be able to pinpoint our location.


	19. Calm, So to Speak

Nine months passed, and our lives steadily returned to some level of normalcy. We never heard about any enemy landing on Tattoine, nor did we encounter any troops or officials. One day when I was making a monthly trip into Mos Eisley to get supplies, I bumped into Owen Lars…literally.

"Owen, I am so sorry" I said, bending down to pick up the packages I had dropped.

He bent down as well and helped to pick them up. "It's all right."

Beru walked up carrying Luke. "Petra, how good to see you. Is Ben well?"

"He's fine. He sent me into town to get supplies" I replied, looking at the now 10 month old Luke. He was starting to look even more like Anakin, and I remarked how blue his eyes were.

"Sometimes I feel as if he knows what I'm thinking" Beru said, laughing, then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Any suspicious happenings?"

I shook my head. "Ben hasn't sensed anything, but he's also been very quiet ever since we got home. He's naturally quiet anyway, but something has been bothering him."

Owen crossed his arms. "It should be; he's been the one spying on us every day for ten months."

Beru looked sharply at him. "Owen, he does it out of concern for Luke."

"I've tried to tell him that Luke is in good hands and always will be, but he worries." I said, trying to soften the hardened look on Owen's face. "He promised the Jedi Order that he would watch over him."

"At the risk of safety to all of us?" Owen said, ever becoming more angry. "Tell your husband to leave us alone. We can take care of ourselves."

"Owen, we…" Beru began, but abruptly stopped and gasped, staring wide-eyed behind me. I turned my head and saw storm troopers; storm troopers of the Empire. Inwardly, I began to panic; had we finally been found? They moved towards us, pushing people aside and destroying property as they did. When they reached us, they stopped. The leader stepped forward.

"Is there a reason for this conference in the middle of the street?" he asked, his helmet-covered face moving back and forth, and I knew he was eyeing all of us. "Move along before someone gets hurt."

I stepped forward, squelching my fear. "I was catching up with my cousins. I haven't seen them in such a long time, we have a lot to talk about. We'll talk somewhere else."

The trooper seemed satisfied and motioned for his men to move along. "The Empire must be increasing their search for exiled Jedi. I should get going; Ben will wonder where I am" I said, turning back to Owen and Beru. Beru stepped forward and hugged me, then allowed me to hug and kiss Luke goodbye. Owen's face softened and he hugged me as well.

"Forgive me for my harsh words, but I do wish your husband would stop watching us" he said, stepping back. I nodded.

"I will talk to him." I remarked, turning to walk away. Owen stopped me and said, "May the Force be with you."


	20. Five Years Later

I was unsuccessful in talking to Ben about his daily vigil over the Lars homestead. Every day, before the sun rose, he would perch himself on a spot overlooking the homestead, hidden from view, and stay for two or three hours. And every evening, before the sun set, he would sit again and watch. For a while, I tried to convince him to stop watching, that Luke was in good hands, but he would look at me and say, without fail, "I made a promise to the Jedi." After a few months, I ceased even talking to him about watching, unless I felt curious enough to ask how Luke was. Ben watched Luke start to walk, run, play, and then begin to perform daily chores on the homestead. It wasn't until five years after the last meeting with Owen and Beru that I wanted to venture out with Ben. He led me to the hillside where he kept watch, and he had picked a spot that was shaded from the sun.

"Beru usually brings Luke out around 5:00 in the mornings; here they come" Ben said, pointing. I looked and saw Beru, holding the hand of little Luke, coming out of the homestead and walking to the moisture vaporators. It brought tears to my eyes because I remembered a time when my mom had done the same thing with Anakin. We had a small moisture vaporator when we were slaves, and once Anakin was old enough, he did my job of gathering the mushrooms that grew there. Ben reached over and grasped my hand in his. "Are you all right?"

I brushed the tears away. "I'm fine. Just reminiscing."

He smiled at me tenderly and kissed me on the cheek. "About Anakin?"

I nodded and leaned against him. We sat there in silence watching Luke and Beru. Before long, though, the suns had risen higher in the sky, and I told Ben that we should go back before it got much hotter. He agreed and we returned home. Our daily lives consisted of little excitement, except for the occasional case of vandalism by Tusken Raiders, but on the whole, they left us alone and we didn't bother them. Jawas came within walking distance of our hovel frequently, and we often traded with them for mechanical parts or trinkets. Most of the repairs Ben put on my shoulders because of my ability to fix practically anything, but occasionally something needed fixing that only he could fix. One day, he asked me the strangest thing: he wanted me to help him organize the cellar we had found in the hovel.

"How long will it take?" I asked, wiping my hands on a dish towel and looping it around a handle.

"Not long. I want to be able to find things more quickly instead of searching for hours for one small item" he said, crossing his arms. "And with your organizational skills, we might be done in a few hours so you can go back to whatever it is to what you regularly do on days like this."

"Very funny, Kenobi" I replied, picking up the towel and slapping him on the arm with it. He grabbed me around the waist and kissed me, then left me alone in the kitchen. I looked out the small window above the sink. Our lives had become almost as dreary as the sand that covered the surface of Tattoine; dreary, but almost always shifting. There were days that I longed for the quiet buzzing of the Jedi Temple; the soft voices filtering in and out, the hum of the machines in the infirmary, Malee chastising me for daydreaming when I was supposed to be working. When I had just started out working in the Temple, I found myself hard pressed to concentrate on the work I was supposed to do, and Malee always had to snap her fingers and make me come out of my daydreams. She eventually tired of doing so and resorted to asking me why I was scatterbrained.

"_I'm sorry Master. I don't know why I can't pay attention" I said, hanging my head. She crossed her arms and stared hard at me._

"_A Jedi cannot afford to be distracted. Any master or Knight would tell you this" she said sternly. "Distractions are detrimental."_

"_I know Master. It won't happen again" I replied, daring to look back up at her. Her face softened and her posture relaxed._

"_Petra, if something is bothering you or troubling you, I hope that you would feel free enough to tell me" she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. _

_I inhaled sharply, wondering if I should dare confide in her. I asked her if there was a place we could talk privately, and she motioned to her office. Once inside, I felt safe enough to tell her the secret that I had been guarding closely for three long months. "You know Obi-Wan Kenobi, don't you?"_

_She nodded. "Yes; he's a very nice young man. Isn't he training your brother?"_

"_Yes he is. Well, he and I…I mean, we…I mean…" I started, trying to figure out how to put it into words._

"_Spit it out before you choke on the words" she said, somewhat impatiently, but also somewhat amused._

"_When Qui-Gon died, I didn't know what to do. Obi-Wan didn't know if it would be best for me to stay or for me to return to Tattoine, but he promised qui-Gon to take care of me" I said, pacing back and forth. "Obi-Wan and I married on Naboo and we've kept our marriage a secret since."_

_She leaned back in the chair, not seeming at all surprised. She grinned. "So that is why you have been so distracted."_

_I nodded. "I'm sorry; I try not to let it get in the way, but it's hard not to."_

_She stood up and hugged me. "Your secret is safe with me. But we will work on not allowing your newlywed status to affect your work, all right?" I nodded and smiled, relieved that someone else knew our secret._


	21. Visits

It's hard to believe that eight years have passed since the last encounter with the Lars. Luke has grown like a weed since and I see a strong resemblance to Anakin every time I see him, be it from a distance. Seeing the young, blonde headed, blue-eyed boy reminds me of his sister who is half a galaxy away on Alderaan. I never was able to see Leia, but I had a feeling that she looks as much like Padme as Luke looks like Anakin. I severely hoped, however, that Luke wouldn't become the man his father had become.

I was busy straightening up the mess in the basement when a voice startled me into dropping a clay-like jar. A deep chuckle followed, a chuckle I knew belonged to Qui-Gon Jinn. "I seem to have a knack for disturbing you, don't I?"

I knelt to pick up the pieces of the clay-like jar. "Yes, you do. I haven't seen you in years. What are you doing here?"

Qui-Gon's shimmery form shrugged as he moved closer to the workbench where I was standing. "I was just passing through and decided to stop in" he said seriously. I arched an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms. "All right, all right, I sensed Ben needed to talk to me."

"He's upstairs in the bedroom meditating. Why are you talking to me instead of him?" I dumped the pieces of the broken jar into a wastebasket nearby.

"I wanted to speak with you. You are worried about Luke's future" he said softly.

I nodded, "But so is Ben. That's why he is always watching over the Lars. He doesn't want anything to happen to Luke."

"Luke has a long and difficult road ahead of him…he will eventually have to choose what he believes and what he wants to fight against" Qui-Gon said, shifting his form to sit beside me.

I held my hand up to stop him. "Don't tell me anymore, I don't want to know what will happen."

He shook his head. "I am not allowed to tell you what will happen. Not even I can know what will happen. I must speak with Ben now; he is waiting." Qui-Gon's form left the basement and I was once again alone in the silence with my own thoughts. I looked down at the floor and saw that I missed a piece of clay; I picked it up and sliced my index finger with it. Looking at the workbench, I saw a discarded rag and grabbed it, wrapping it around my finger to stop the bleeding. I knew it wouldn't take long, though, for the healing abilities I gained in years past was nearly an automatic thing now; healing my own cuts and scrapes didn't take conscious thought. Malee always said it was something with healers; they were able to heal their own cuts, bruises, and whatnot with just thinking about it. It was always disturbing at first, but in a way, sort of nice because I didn't have to bother with bandages for myself on minor cuts. I finished straightening up, which was nearly a futile thing with Ben, and headed upstairs, where I heard Ben conversing with Qui-Gon. Sighing, I went outside, squinting at the mid-afternoon sunlight. It was the hottest time of the day, but I had grown so re-accustomed to it that it no longer bothered me. I had already gathered in the mushrooms for the day, and then I remembered that Ben had been asking for soup recently; why I had no idea, but I decided to try and make him some mushroom soup. Our mushrooms had been growing well, and I knew there would be plenty for soup. Going back inside, I met Ben as he opened the door to the basement. "Did Qui-Gon give you what you wanted?" I asked him. He stopped and turned to me.

"No, I didn't ask him for anything" he replied quietly. He opened his mouth to say something but then turned back to the basement and descended the stairs. I nearly went after him, but decided not to. In the past few years, he had become more of a quiet person, barely talking to even me. He was always a man of few words, but since the events on Mustafar, he became withdrawn, even sullen. Regularly, I would wake up to find him drenched in sweat at night, tossing and moaning like a man in turmoil. _Anakin, why? Why? _he would scream, clutching at the sheets like a mad man. I never woke him from those nightmares, but I always laid my hand on his forehead, soothing the troubled thoughts running through his mind. And yet, he never spoke a word of his troubled nights to me, though I knew he was aware of what I did. My line of thought was disturbed by a loud and persistent knocking on the door. Ben quickly came out of the basement and motioned for me to stay out of sight. He went to the door and leaned against it, trying to feel for who it was without using much Force ability.

"Ben, Petra, open up; it's Beru" a female voice said. Ben opened the door and Beru rushed in crying with Luke in her arms. "It's Luke; he's been sick for a couple of days and I don't know what else to do for him."

Ben looked at me, then back at Beru. "Take him into the bedroom; it's this way" he said, leading the way into our bedroom and Beru placed him on the bed.

"Owen will kill me if he finds out I brought him; but I had to wait for him to leave the homestead before I came here" Beru said, still crying. I looked at her, amazed that a woman who was so soft-spoken would dare stand up to her husband in such a way. "He seemed to think it was nothing; but something tells me that it's more serious. Can you help him?"

I looked at Ben, unsure of whether or not to use my healing abilities. Any time we used our powers openly, we risked Vader and/or the Emperor detecting us. He nodded at me. "You can do it this once, but after that no more."

"Thank you so much" Beru said, sinking down next to the bed. "Owen thought it was just a head cold or something, but Luke's breathing has gotten shallower and he's had a high fever for over a day."

"It's not a cold; there is some sort of virus in his system" I said, running my hands over Luke's small body. "I can try to destroy it…but I'm not sure I can."

Ben laid his hand on my shoulder. "Remember what Master Yoda used to tell us? Don't think; just act. Do, or do not, there is no try. You can do this." But I wasn't alone; Ben, through his own power, helped my healing abilities to find and destroy the virus that was starting to claim little Luke's life. Luke's breathing became even and steady as he fell fast asleep. Beru breathed a sigh of relief and hugged me.

"Thank you so much."


	22. Again and Again

Luke was now thirteen, and was becoming ever so much like his father, much to Owen's chagrin. Ever since that visit from Beru and Luke when Luke was so sick, I had been keeping vigil with Ben. To be perfectly honest, there was nothing to do all day long, and so I figured that the best way to kill time was to sit and watch the Lars with my husband. Every day, Luke did things that irked Owen, as it would any father; annoying Owen with impatience, daydreaming of distant lands, fantasizing about adventure, and wishing to leave Tattoine, just as Anakin used to do; a habit which often got Luke into a great deal of trouble.

One day, not long after lunch, I was scrubbing the pot that I had used the day before when Ben rushed into the kitchen, slamming the basement door behind him. "Luke and his friend are in trouble; I should go help them."

I stopped what I was doing and turned around to look at him. "What's wrong?"

Ben pulled his robe on. "I'm not sure; he and his friend were exploring and thrown off their dewback, and there are krayt dragons around that area. Owen is looking for them, but I don't think he's anywhere near where they are."

"Let me come with you" I said, picking up my own robe. "They might be hurt."

He shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"Ben Kenobi, you are NOT going to tell me to stay home. I'm going whether you like it or not" I replied, pulling on my robe defiantly. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it, thinking better of saying something. He rolled his eyes and followed me out the door of the hovel. "What direction?" I asked, and he pointed. Off we walked, picking our way down the slopes carefully and slowly. Soon, we stopped as we heard the most blood-curdling roar ever heard: that from a krayt dragon. They were not creatures you wanted to meet without a weapon at your side, nor did you want to meet them alone. We stood at the entrance to a narrow cavern, waiting to determine if the beast was inside the canyon or above it.

"We don't have time for this" Ben said as he ventured forward, me following closely behind. As we went further, the cries of the krayt dragon got louder, and we then decided that it wasn't an echo. Then we came upon the fresh carcass of a dewback: Luke and his friend's dewback. "Luke!" Ben shouted, desperate for an answer. We heard a scream, but couldn't make out the words. Then we saw why we heard a scream: the dragon had been trying to get at Luke and his friend who were hiding in a crevice, a crevice too narrow and small for the krayt dragon to fit into. As we drew closer, the dragon stopped, turned around, roared, then came charging straight at us. Ben shoved me back as he drew his lightsaber, thrusting it into the beast's chest. The krayt fell back dead as Ben pulled his lightsaber out of the body. I pulled myself up as Ben went to the crevice and helped Luke and his friend out.

This was the first time in years I had been able to see Luke clearly and up close, and the resemblance to Anakin was startling. Very startling. "Are you boys all right?" I asked, bending down to examine them. Apparently, Anakin's tendency to get into trouble was passed down to his son.

Luke's friend drew back, but Luke said, "We're fine. Who are you?"

I looked up at Ben, wondering if I should say anything else. He nodded. "I'm Petra. This is Ben."

Luke extended his hand to me. "I'm Luke Skywalker; and this is Windy Starkiller." Windy nodded shyly. "Thanks for rescuing us; I thought we were dead for sure."

"LUKE SKYWALKER!"


	23. Big, Ugly, Trouble

We all knew that voice a little too well. Owen Lars was nearby, searching for the lost boys. Ben touched my shoulder as he said, "Stay here; I'll go get him" and he disappeared above the crevice. Luke looked at me with his head cocked, almost as if he was thinking very hard about something. "You seem familiar."

I sighed. Was it my place to tell Luke about his past? "I knew you when you were a baby." But my short answer didn't seem to satisfy him because he asked, "Did you know my parents?"

Inwardly, I was torn. I wanted so badly to reveal his past to him; tell him the fond memories I had of Anakin as he grew up; tell him about the beauty of his mother and her unjust death, and of his twin sister, several light years away on another planet. "I knew them; but your uncle doesn't want me to talk about them."

He crossed his arms the way Anakin used to. "Why not?"

"You'd have to ask him that question. I can tell you that your parents loved you a great deal. They only wanted the best for you", and with that, I fell silent. Until Owen Lars stepped into view, that is.

"Luke Skywalker, this is the very last straw" Owen bellowed, causing Luke to shrink back from him. "I swear, if you…"

I stood up. "Owen Lars, stop it. Boys have a natural habit of getting into trouble, and for wandering off."

He whirled to face me. "Petra Skywalker, stay out of this. You gave the boy to me and Beru to raise; you aren't the one raising him."

Luke looked up at me. "Skywalker? Your name is Skywalker?"

I looked at Owen, silently pleading with him to allow me to tell him why. Owen merely glared back at me, his fiery gaze making even me back down. "Come on boys, we're going home" he said, roughly tugging on Luke's arm. Luke protested, saying, "But, but, Uncle Owen, I want to know why her name is Skywalker!" Owen ignored the boy's protests as he led them out of the shallow canyon. Ben and I followed silently behind, wondering if we had done the right thing by finding the boys in the first place. As Luke glanced back at me after mounting the eopie, I knew that deep down, we had done the right thing.


	24. Family Time

We never expected to see Luke or Owen again after that incident that day. Of course, Ben always kept a watchful eye on the homestead, but he only checked once a day, every other day when he did. We grew older and grayer, every day the mirror revealing how much stress we were under. One day, as I cleaned out our small closet, I found a photo album that had been neglected in the back of the closet. I sat down on the bed and began flipping through it. Secretly, Ben and I had had pictures made of us and our children on Coruscant; and it was strange to see us so young…and our children alive. But I was saddened as well, looking back over the years. How did life end up going so wrong? In mid thought, I was interrupted by a knock on the door. Setting aside the album, I moved to the living room to retrieve my lightsaber, knowing that Ben never knocked on our door.

"Who is it?" I called, not approaching the door.

"It's me, Luke Skywalker" a young, male voice replied. Shaking my head, I opened the door and welcomed the young man in. "You shouldn't be here, Luke. Your uncle would have a fit if he knew."

"He and Aunt Beru went to Mos Eisley for supplies; they won't be back for a while" he said as he moved inside. "Besides, you never did answer my question the other day, and my uncle refused to answer my questions when we got home."

I cast a worried glance towards the door, wondering if I should usher Luke outside or let him stay. "Please sit down and make yourself at home. You had a long walk, are you thirsty or hungry?"

"You wouldn't happen to have any blue milk around would you?" He asked sheepishly. I grinned.

"I made a fresh pitcher this morning. I'll be right back" and I went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of blue milk, a drink native to Tattoine. I walked back into the living room and handed him a glass before sitting down beside him. "I did know your parents."

He took a sip of the milk and nodded. "What were they like?"

"Your father was very handsome. Rebellious at times, but very strong and brave. He took care of his friends and family, especially your mother. You look much like him" I said, locking eyes with him. He lowered his eyes to his lap and said, "what about my mother?"

I thought a moment. "Well…she was very, very beautiful. She was fairly outspoken, especially among her colleagues, and she was an idealist. You should have seen her face the day she found out she was carrying you. You couldn't have found a brighter glow in this galaxy than that." Luke smiled.

"I wish I could have known her" he said, "but maybe it's for the best. Uncle owen says that things happen for a reason."

I nodded. "That's true. You were asking how my name is Skywalker", and to this he nodded 'yes'. "Well, I was your father's sister by adoption."

His eyes widened. "You're my aunt?" I nodded and smiled. "Yes", I replied. "I am your aunt. Ben was…well he was a very good friend of your father's."

"Until Darth Vader killed him" Luke said, his face sobering. I looked at him, aghast with surprise. "Why did Darth Vader kill him?"

"I…I don't know Luke. Things like that are unexplainable" I replied, fighting my own emotions that were threatening to surface. "Absolutely unexplainable."

"What's this?" Ben said, coming into the living room. He had entered so quietly that neither of us heard him. "Luke, you shouldn't be here."

"I know, I know" Luke said, "but Uncle Owen can't protect me forever, and he's trying to." I looked over at Ben. It appeared that Anakin's rebellious nature was starting to surface in his own son. Ben sat down across from me and Luke.

"That's true. But your uncle doesn't see it that way, son" Ben remarked, leaning against the couch. "As long as you live with him, you must obey him."

Luke stood up, setting his glass on the end table. "He doesn't understand. He won't answer my questions…it isn't fair!"

"Of course it isn't; but life isn't always fair" Ben replied in his usual calm, matter-of-fact way. "Did Petra answer your questions?"

Luke nodded. "She did. You knew my father, didn't you?"

Ben looked at me. "I did. He was a good friend; I only wish…"

"That he hadn't been killed by Darth Vader?" Luke finished for him. Ben nodded, placing his hand on Luke's, saying, "But you shouldn't allow that to define who you become."

Luke looked over at me, then back at Ben. "I won't, Uncle Ben."

"Why don't you stay and eat dinner with us? We never have any guests for dinner" I said, standing up. "Since your other aunt and uncle won't know about it, you have time."

Luke smiled and handed me his glass as I headed into the kitchen. As I stood over the stove making dinner for three, I compared Luke's mannerisms to Anakin's. While they resembled each other, and while they had similar temperaments, I realized that Luke was more like Padmè than like Anakin. He was quiet, but confident. Even-tempered, but defiant. I wondered, then, if Leia was the exact opposite of her twin brother, but since we would never know, I didn't spend time dwelling on it. After we ate, Luke stayed for a few minutes to talk with Ben; and Ben was eager to visit. Remembering our own sons who had died on Coruscant, I was grieved at our decision to have put them with the Jedi in infancy instead of raising them ourselves. How much could I have spared us and them if we had made a different choice back then? Luke came into the kitchen, interrupting my train of thought.

"Aunt Petra, I should be going. I don't want to get home too late or Uncle Owen will know that I've been gone" he said, hugging me. I hugged him back tightly before releasing him. "I'll come back to visit as often as I can, if that's okay with you."

I smiled. "Oh yes, that would be just fine Luke. Be careful going home."

"I'm always careful" he said with a mischievous grin as he left the hovel. Ben came into the kitchen to help me with the dishes. "Spitting image of Anakin, isn't he?" he asked as he plunged his hands into the soapy hot water.

I nodded. "He is; I just hope he turns out differently than his father."

Ben stopped and looked at me. "He will. I promise."


	25. The End of All Things

**(approximately 4 BBY.) **

Today was an uneventful day. Don't get me wrong; I'm always thankful for uneventful days, as we've had news of the Empire's called off search for Jedi escapees. I assume that's because that if there were any Jedi left, the Jedi would disband and go into hiding, like Petra and I are doing, along with Master Yoda. Still, it doesn't make me want to venture far from the hovel unless it's vitally necessary. The moisture vaporator completely broke down, and as a result, we were unable to gather enough water to last us until we were able to repair it with parts from the Jawas. Petra insisted on traveling by ship to Mos Espa, the spaceport several hundred miles from Mos Eisley. I argued with her that I should go instead, but I received her reply of "Ben Kenobi, you wouldn't know the parts to repair the vaporator even if they hit you in the face. I'll be perfectly fine by myself", and I knew that I couldn't win an argument with her, now or ever.

So in the end, she went to Mos Espa alone. It was against my better judgment to let her go, but these last few months she has been antsy and anxious, not happy with meditation or short walks around the hovel. I knew, deep down, she was tired of hiding in this hole on this rock of a planet. She assured me that she would keep herself out of trouble, but knowing my wife, she will be hard put to keep to that promise. The Lars are perfectly fine, only having one search made by the Empire, but incidentally, they were away when it happened. Our own small hovel was concealed enough that the Empire never came near enough to see it, of which I was very grateful. Owen's harsh rebuke of Luke the day that Petra and I found Luke and his friend in the canyon made me rethink my promise of watching the homestead every day. I changed my habits to only watch the homestead once a day, every other day, and even those visits were becoming less and less frequent, for Luke was now sixteen years old and seemed to be able to stand on his own two feet…if his uncle allowed it, that is. Owen seemed to restrict the boy even more after that day, but Luke found ways of rebelling. When I watched them, I saw the parallel between Owen and Luke's relationship to my relationship with Anakin. But Luke wasn't as stubborn as his father, a factor that I was thankful for, if only for his aunt and uncle. It was difficult enough raising a boy who daydreamed so often of leaving Tattoine, let alone one who constantly argued with his guardians.

Petra didn't give me a time when she would be back, but as it's becoming late, I should probably see to getting something together for dinner. I cannot cook, but there's no harm in trying again, I suppose.

Dinner is growing cold, and Petra still hasn't returned. I know that she can handle herself on this planet, but I worry that something has happened to her. Except for meditation, she has closed herself down to the Force, refusing to use it for anything but relaxation when she is stressed or anxious about something. We agreed that whenever one of us left the hovel, we would not use our Force abilities for our own safety against the Empire. Even though Vader and the Emperor had apparently called off the manhunt for exiled Jedi, I knew that if they sensed a Jedi for even a mere second, they would resume the hunt. There were places around our hovel where we could use the Force with no fear of detection, for the natural composition of the rocks and cliffs concealed the Force. The suns have set and the moons have risen, but she is long overdue. If she isn't back by tomorrow morning, I'm going to look for her.

_The Next Morning_

When Ben made his way into Mos Eisley to ask for a transport, he was worried at the lack of activity. He went into the cantina, and all was quiet except for a few whispered voices here and there. The bartender and the few scattered customers glanced up at him as he walked inside. He crossed over to the bar and asked the bartender if there was a pilot for hire. The bartender nodded and pointed over to an alien sitting against the wall in the darkness. Ben walked over, introduced himself, and asked, "Would you be able to give me transport to Mos Espa?"

The alien drained his cup before answering. "How much ya willing to pay?"

Ben pulled out several credits and laid them on the table. "Will this do?"

The alien silently counted the credits and nodded. "Ship's in docking bay 94. Should be ready in about twenty minutes."

Ben stood up. "Thank you" and he walked out without saying anything else. He tried not to chafe with impatience during those twenty minutes, but something inside him told him that Petra was in danger. The only trouble with, he couldn't put his finger on how she was in danger or from what. He only knew that he had to find her, and quickly.

The alien, however scrubby, was deft at flying, something Ben appreciated as he himself didn't care too much for flying. It took three hours to reach Mos Espa, a smaller but somewhat safer spaceport in comparison to Mos Eisley. "Mind if I ask why you're traveling to mos Espa?" the alien asked Ben.

"Yes, I do" Ben bit, then realizing he shouldn't have. "My wife is missing."

The alien looked at him with an interested look. "Oh? Hope you find her. Mos Espa isn't much safer than Mos Eisley; a woman alone can find herself in a lot of hot water, if you get my drift."

Ben did. But he preferred not to think about it. A few minutes later, as they approached the spaceport, they were contacted by officials of the spaceport. "Alien vessel, state your business."

The alien tapped the computer panel to respond. "Transporting a passenger to Mos Espa; do I have clearance to land?"

"There's been some trouble at the spaceport" the person on the other end said. "Best to go back to where you came from until we clear it up."

The alien glanced at Ben, who motioned for him to ask on. "What kind of trouble?" the alien asked.

The person on the other end hesitated. "One of the transport ships crashed into the spaceport and we've been sorting out the mess. Lots of casualties, hundreds dead; we aren't quite sure whose body is whose."

Ben felt nearly sick after the alien told the person that they would return to Mos Eisley. _Petra was on the transport that crashed_, he said to himself. "Land on the outskirts of the spaceport."

"What?" The alien asked, looking at him quizzically.

"Just do it!" Ben demanded, fighting to control his emotions. The alien didn't argue further but guided the ship to a flat place near the spaceport, setting the ship down gently. Before the ship touched down, though, Ben was already at the entryway, ready to lower the ramp as soon as the ship touched the ground. He set out on a run towards the spaceport, hoping and even praying that Petra wasn't seriously injured or worse…dead.

The scene that met his eyes was anything but calm. There were burning pieces of debris, bloodied people that had stumbled or been helped away from the mess, and worse still, bodies laid scattered around the site of the crash. Some bodies were covered while others weren't. Ben asked around, trying to determine if a medical center had been set up to assist the injured, and he finally received a somewhat logical and reasonable answer. A triage was set up in a local warehouse that was recently cleared out by the Hutts. He was told by a medical assistant that the most seriously injured were treated towards the back; the least injured were at the front. Ben quickly scanned each bed, floor space, anywhere he saw a person lying. When he didn't find her at the front, he knew that he would find her at the back. He had to.

It seemed like years before Ben reached the final rows of patients. Some had already died, too far gone for treatment. Others were in great pain, still bleeding or suffering from fresh wounds. Ben tuned out all others except the one person he recognized at the end of the row. Her face was bruised and cut, but other than that she appeared to be fine…until he drew closer to her. He was able to see that her left arm was mangled, bloody, and beyond saving. She wasn't covered with a blanket as it was on the floor, but he saw the evidence of broken legs. Nearly sick at the sight of his wife on the cot, he swallowed hard, forcing himself to block out what he saw. As he knelt down beside her, Petra's eyes slowly fluttered open and moved to focus on him. "Obi-Wan" she whispered hoarsely. "I was hoping you would come for me."

Ben smiled at her, not bothering to remind her about the name. "Of course I'd come after you; you wouldn't want my life to get boring, would you?"

Petra started to laugh but quickly stopped, wincing. "Obi-Wan, I don't think…I don't think I've cheated death this time."

Ben stroked her face, wiping her face with the robe he took off. "Of course you have; just hang on, and I'll get you taken care of."

She shook her head, coughing up blood. "You know that's not true. I shouldn't have come here…I should have stayed home."

"You didn't know; I should have come with you. I might have been able to prevent this" Ben said, his eyes tearing up and threatening to spill over.

Petra reached up to touch his bearded cheek. "It isn't your fault, Kenobi. None of this is your fault."

Ben grabbed her hand and held it, with his, against his chest. "Anakin was my fault. Qui-Gon was my fault. You shouldn't be here. Not like this."

"No, if I hadn't come, that ship would not have crashed" Petra said. "The Emperor sent troops into Mos Espa a couple of days ago. My face has been circulating on the holonet, just as if I was a criminal."

Ben's eyebrows rose. "The Emperor knows we're here?"

Petra shrugged, or tried to anyway. "Some of the troops recognized me, I think; I didn't really notice but I kept on walking to my transport. When we started to leave, we were already in the air before the missile hit us. The pilot couldn't keep us in the air and we crashed into the spaceport." She winced before she went on. "So many people were screaming; I couldn't move. I was afraid that the whole ship would explode before anyone got out."

"how did you get out?" Ben asked, gripping her hand tighter.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I passed out and woke up here."

Ben motioned to a nearby medical person. "Is there anything you can do for her?"

The medical person glanced at me, pulled Ben to the side, and said, "I've already examined her. Not only does she have a severely broken arm, two broken legs, and cuts, she has internal bleeding."

"Can't you stop it?" Ben asked, trying to keep his calm.

The person shook his head. "No. The damage is far too severe; we don't even know exactly what's causing the bleeding. Sir, most of the people in this section are ones we know we can't save."

Ben was struck dumb. He couldn't even think of anything to say, and his mouth had suddenly gone dry. He wasn't sure he could live without her by his side. "She's dying?"

The medical assistant nodded. "I'm very sorry sir. If I could do something for her, I would." Ben returned to Petra's side, grasping her hand as he did before.

"He told you I was dying, didn't he?" Petra said, looking up into his face. Ben didn't respond because he couldn't. His voice was too choked and his eyes too full of tears for him to respond clearly. "Oh, Kenobi; don't be like this."

Ben looked into her eyes, tears slipping down his cheeks. "Petra, I don't know if I can do this without you. I…I love you so incredibly much."

She smiled, a smile that he had fallen in love with that day on Tattoine. "I love you too, Obi-Wan Kenobi. But you have to promise me two things."

"Anything" he replied, sniffling.

"First, you have to teach Luke about the Jedi. He's the future of the Order" she said, stopping to catch her breath. Ben nodded. "Second…don't ever forget. Until your dying day, don't you ever forget me."

He smiled faintly. "Petra, you don't have to worry about me forgetting you. You've been in my heart ever since I first met you." She smiled in response as he bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. And as he drew back, she whispered one last time, "I love you, Kenobi" before she finally succumbed to the darkness engulfing her. Ben could only lay his head on her chest and weep.


	26. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE (0 BBY)**

It's been almost four years since that day at Mos Espa when I let the love of my life go. At times it's like the years have flown by, and at others, when I'm most reminded of her, it seems as if the years have dragged on and on. My heart has never stopped aching for the one person that made me truly understand what it was like to love, and be loved in return. Qui-Gon taught me the valuable lesson of learning to let loved ones go, and loving them with an open heart. It is how I loved Siri, and it is how I loved Petra.

I never visit the place where Petra is buried. When I brought her back to the hovel, Owen Lars was standing at the door, waiting for me. He had come to ask me about the incident at Mos Espa, but why he came is unknown to me to this day. When he realized that Petra had died, he graciously offered to allow me to bury her at the homestead next to Shmi. It was a solemn funeral of four: myself, Owen, Beru, and Luke. I don't know who was shedding the most tears; and even though Luke hadn't known Petra for very long, he too wept as we said our last goodbyes. Since that day, Owen was more willing to allow Luke to visit my hovel, knowing how lonely I would be. While brittle on the outside, Owen Lars was soft hearted on the inside and only wanted the best for Luke. I knew this, and my own feelings toward him were softened.

Once, in meditation, Qui-Gon visited with me. I dared to ask him if Petra had journeyed on in the Force. Qui-Gon merely smiled and said, "Yes, she is safe, and she is taken care of." At this I was relieved, but deep down, I was hoping that like Qui-Gon, Petra would one day be able to visit me as well. I didn't ask Qui-Gon about that, because I knew he would lecture me about letting go. It took time, but I was able to let Petra Skywalker rest in peace. I had pictures of her to remind me of the years gone by. And as I looked at her lovely face, I knew that she would never be forgotten, by me or by anyone else who had come into contact with the slave who became a healer.

~The End~


	27. Luke's Thoughts and Author Notes

(Read on to find out Luke's thoughts on Obi-Wan and Petra)

_I found these journals of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the hovel on Tattoine. Not only did I find his, but I found several kept by his wife, Petra Skywalker Kenobi (my aunt by adoption). I am very grateful that they both kept records of their lives, for it gives me a glimpse into what my parents were like. How I wish I could have known all of them when they were in the prime of the Jedi Order! The New Jedi Order has been thriving with new apprentices and masters. Oh, and I should mention that my own wife, Mara Jade, is the daughter of Petra and Obi-Wan. Can you imagine? When she first told me her name, back when she was trying to kill me as the Emperor's Hand, I knew I had heard or read that name somewhere. I dug through Petra's journals and found her name. Once Mara returned to the light side of the Force, and resumed her training as a Jedi, I showed her the journals. She told me that secretly, she had always wondered about her parents. _

_We have a son of our own, Ben. Leia is married to Han Solo and they have three children: twins, Jaina and Jacen, and the youngest, Anakin (named after my father). These children are the future of the Jedi Order, the future of the New Republic, the future of democracy and peace. By knowing my past better through these journals, I am able to prepare for the future. As Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, I am having these journals copied and made available for apprentices to read and learn from. The struggles that the Kenobis experienced are no different than our own today, and I believe that these journals can provide assistance in educating our younglings._

_-__**Luke Skywalker, Jedi Grand Master**_

_(Read on for author's notes on the story)_

Author's Notes:

Well, I can't say how relieved I am to finally have this story behind me. As I re-wrote this story, I began to realize just how much my own writing has changed since I first "penned" Star Wars: A Brave Spirit. Gosh, that was so long ago that I don't even remember when I first began it! This version is the third (and final) version of that first set of stories that I wrote way-back-when. I hope that whoever has read this has enjoyed it, and has forgiven errors that I've made through typos or logical mistakes.

_To clear up any confusion: _You may have noticed that the last chapter was different than the previous 24. That was intentional. I intentionally wrote it in Obi-Wan's first person to get you thinking that it was Petra who was writing, but in the end, making you realize that it wasn't. I then switched from first person to third person, telling the story objectively. This was the easiest way that I, as a writer, could convey both the feelings of Obi-Wan and Petra simultaneously without worrying about "making sense". Often times, in first person narrative, you don't always know what the other person is feeling or thinking. You only know what is told to you. Third person narrative allows for more expansion on those things, and it allows you to watch it from outside the action, so to speak. The reason why I used Obi-Wan's first person in the first part of chapter 25 and in the Epilogue is two-fold: not only is it in first person of a character that we haven't heard first person on in this story, it also is an idea based on the fact of Obi-Wan's journals that he left behind for Luke Skywalker (mentioned in "life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi" by Ryder Winham). The idea that Luke could read the stories of both Obi-Wan and Petra has always intrigued me, and it was the fact of Obi-Wan's journals that led me to switch it up a little.

And in case you were wondering, the information at the end about Luke and his family are all from the Expanded Universe. The expanded universe is amazingly detailed with favorite characters, events, and places. One place I go to find out about EU events and characters is .com, a huge resource of Star Wars material. As noted in my opening summary, that is where I get most of my information, canon or not (canon is something that has "happened" to a character, or has "happened", such as the Battle of Yavin; it is something that has been written into literature and not something that's assumed). Also, "BBY" is the abbreviation for "Before the Battle of Yavin". All of the movies are classified as either 'BBY' or 'ABY'. For example, The Phantom Menace is 32 years BBY, or Before the Battle of Yavin. A New Hope is 0 BBY, because of course, the Battle of Yavin occurs in that film. Return of the Jedi is 3 years ABY, and so on.

Copyrights and disclaimers are mentioned below the summary. Many thanks to those of you who have read this story and who have enjoyed it and who have given me praise (and constructive criticism). And who knows? Maybe someday soon I'll re-write one of my other Star Wars fan fictions. ;)


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